Earth, Wind and Fire
by The lunatic who cares
Summary: Ever had a bad day and found yourself talking to the one mech you'd never imagined you'd confide in? Thundercracker discovers that not all Autobots would shoot him on sight. Crack. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Transformers, but I do have some personalised Transformers artwork now! :D  
**Notes: **This comes from the lack of me being able to find this, my favourite pairing, around and encouragement from various sources to actually post. I think I've read one fic! One! So be warned not only is this crack, it'll happily be turning into slash crack! Beta-ed by Rae.

_Italics _- Comms

--

Give me the clear blue sky over my head and the green turf beneath my feet - William Hazlitt

--

Hound sighed and looked skywards when a boom sent all the wildlife scurrying for cover. The whine of jet engines heading his way let him know his peace in this backwater forest had been interrupted and it was a Seeker, of all things. The green Autobot knew he was fairly well camouflaged, sitting where he was with his back to a tree in the midst of the wood, and didn't move from his position as he tracked the jet across the sky.

Another boom filled the air and Hound knew, even if he'd been blind, that the Seeker was Thundercracker. The light blue colouration just confirmed it, and the scout was surprised to see the Decepticon without either of his trine mates. Generally they flew in at least pairs, if not all together.

Thundercracker screamed by overhead, turned and headed straight for a sheer rock face that the forest backed onto. He transformed a few metres from it and proceeded to shoot massive holes in the bare rock, sending boulders tumbling to the floor. Hound frowned as he watched, standing to get a better view. What was Thundercracker doing?

The blue seeker swore, dropping down the cliff until he reached the floor, directly opposite the hidden Autobot and beat clenched fists into the rock, send up clouds of dust. He kept it up for some minutes before sighing loudly and thumping his head down onto the rock. Hound didn't think about it, just stepped from the trees, hands empty and loose at his sides.

"Bad day?"

Thundercracker spun around, weapon rising and looked completely shocked to find an Autobot standing there, unarmed and apparently understanding. The seeker grunted, dropped his arm and slumped back against the cliff face.

"What makes you say that?" He tried for indifference.

"I don't normally see you out alone, trying to beat the slag out of a mountain." Hound shrugged. "Looked like you were trying to work something out of your system."

Thundercracker shuttered his optics briefly before sidestepping the issue. "What are you doing out here?"

"It's my time off. I was enjoying the scenery and wildlife, before you scared them off," Hound replied.

Thundercracker shot him a look. "You like it here? On Earth?"

The scout nodded. "There seems to be so much going on, and it's a beautiful place."

Thundercracker slid down the rock face to sit down, legs stretched out in front of him. "Do you prefer it to Cybertron?"

"Sometimes." Hound took his continued conversation as an invitation to sit down and positioned himself next to the Decepticon.

"I miss Cybertron. Back before the war, when all the cities and towers were still there. Nothing beat flying through Praxus or the Iacon Towers when they were all lit up." Thundercracker flicked a pebble into the trees.

"Never been a city 'bot myself." Hound shook his head. "Too many others, all living too close."

Thundercracker made a noise of agreement. "Living on the Nemesis is just like that. I could fragging shoot Starscream and Skywarp sometimes! They just have no idea how annoying they can be!" One fist thudded down hard into the ground and Hound made a sympathetic noise. "And why am I even telling you this?"

"Because sometimes it's easier to talk to a complete stranger than someone who'll judge you."

"You won't judge me?" Thundercracker asked, surprised.

"Don't tend to go around judging 'bots if I can help," Hound shrugged.

Thundercracker was silent for a moment as he weighed the possibilities of talking to someone who was supposed to be his enemy. Hound was not one of those Autobots who had gotten themselves a name amongst the Decepticon ranks, not like those Twins had. His holographic ability was considered weak and non-aggressive to the Decepticons, but Thundercracker had to admit it allowed Hound to get close to them without them knowing, or trick them in the midst of battle.

"Starscream made a play for leader again today. Megatron fragged him up something bad this time, I don't think he'll be out causing you any grief for awhile," Thundercracker snorted. "He never learns, the idiot." Hound felt a small smile creep up onto his face but remained quiet.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if Skywarp had behaved himself, but oh no, that slagger went and pulled a prank on the Stunticons before trying to hide behind me! He kept whining on and on about how friends should look out for each other." Thundercracker clenched his hands into fists. "Now there's watching someone's back, having a little fun, and then there's sticking some sort of foul smelling liquid in the Stunticons whilst they're in recharge. I value my frame being in one piece, thank you _very much_."

"Bad day, then." Hound answered his own question.

"Oh it gets worse. Soundwave then had the nerve to ask me to sort it all, because I am a Seeker! He can fragging well sort them out himself!"

"So you took off," Hound guessed.

"It was either that or beat some 'Con's head into the floor. I'm not on shift anyway, I can do what I like." Thundercracker folded his arms over his cockpit and appeared to be sulking.

"I take a drive when things get a little too much for me." Hound gazed out at the scenery, giving the Decepticon time to sort himself out. "I mean I'm pretty laid back, but some 'bots take that to mean they can walk all over me."

"Yeah. I get call strut-less sometimes, just because I can resist the urge to get into meaningless fights over petty arguments." The seeker started to relax.

"That just sounds sensible to me," Hound commented. "I wouldn't want to pick a fight with Motormaster."

Thundercracker sniggered. "He's pretty dumb. In a locked room, you'd stand no chance, but out in the open, he's slow and lets his anger get the better of him cause he can't win."

"You'd get into trouble wouldn't you?" the scout glanced at his companion. "If the others heard you talking to me."

Thundercracker shrugged. "There's no one here. You're saying you wouldn't?"

The green mech frowned. "Some would be suspicious and call me a traitor or spy, but Optimus wouldn't let anything happen without proof. You remember that incident with those cells, the Insecticons and Mirage?"

"That's when Megatron blew them all up so no one could have them."

"Mirage got a cerebral shell put in his head during all that, all because Cliffjumper accused him of being a traitor and he was trying to prove he wasn't."

"That mini-bot a pile of slag to you guys as well then?" Thundercracker found that amusing.

"…Sometimes." Hound tried not to let the smile creep across his face. Cliffjumper wasn't all that bad, just a little over… enthusiastic.

Thundercracker sighed again, optics drifting over the open valley, filled with its organic beings and tried to see what there was to enjoy. Pit, it was dusty and dirty, and bits got everywhere. Seekers had to keep themselves in pristine condition to work at the best of their abilities and you had to be the best otherwise you were just a target.

"I don't get it," Thundercracker commented suddenly. "What is there to like? Where's this 'wildlife'?"

Hound chuckled. "You scared them off, remember? You jets aren't exactly quiet, and with throwing that boom of yours around, they took off long ago. I could hear you coming from hics away."

Thundercracker scowled. "Could not, and anyway, sneaking up on things is cowards' work."

"If you say so," Hound shrugged, refusing to be draw into an argument.

"You're not going to defend your friends who sneak around?" Thundercracker asked, puzzled.

"What, you mean like Mirage?" Hound shook his head. "I know they're not cowards and I expect you know it too. It's just your way."

The Seeker accepted his companion's comment with reasonable grace. The two passed a few more hours talking, until the sun was getting low in the sky. Hound was contemplating making a move, but was in no particular hurry to be anywhere and Thundercracker didn't appear to be either. That was until the Seeker's comm blared into life.

'_Thundercracker, where you hiding?'_

Thundercracker narrowed his optics before snapping, _'I'm not hiding anywhere, Rumble.'_

'_Whatever.' _The cassetticon replied nonchalantly. _'Just to let you know Screamer and 'Warp are givin' Hook problems.'_

'_So? He's a big con, he can deal with them.'_

'_I only mention it 'cause Megatron's heard and he's out looking for you, since you're not here sorting them out, like normal. Soundwave's headed him off for now, but that'll only last so long.'_

"Slag," Thundercracker muttered sourly.

"You got to go?" Hound asked, having heard the conversation.

"Yeah..." Thundercracker didn't sound pleased. _'I'm on my way back, Rumble.'_

The blue mech stood and stretched. Hound watched him for a moment before standing next to him and wondering what to say. Thundercracker turned to him, shrugged one shoulder and said, "It was strange, but I liked talking to you."

"Me too," Hound agreed.

Thundercracker nodded, glanced out over the valley and then mumbled a goodbye. "See you around, Autobot."

With that he took a short run, launched himself into the air, transformed and roared off across the sky. Hound stayed where he was until the blue seeker disappeared from optic range before he murmured, "see you around."

--

And they did. From time to time, when life amongst their respective comrades became a little too much, Hound and Thundercracker found themselves heading back to where they had met before. Sometimes the other was there, sometimes they sat alone, but in the times they had together, they grew in confidence and it turned out that, despite their huge differences, the two mechs had a lot to talk about.

"And then Starscream blew a hole in the side of the ship and flooded out half of it before someone remembered to shut the bulkheads!"

Hound laughed, "Wheeljack blew up his lab again yesterday and ended up stuck in the ceiling. Ratchet had to prise him out with a crowbar. He was swearing at him the entire time."

Thundercracker snorted and flung a rock out from the ledge, watching it arc through the sky before missing its target by half a mechanometer. He glared at the dead branch sticking up from the tree. Hound had challenged him to hit it, but not with his weapons. Thundercracker wasn't use to throwing things. The green Autobot next to him grinned widely before flinging his own rock out at the branch and the pair watched it clip the tip.

"Wondered when playing those human sports Spike's been teaching us would come in handy."

"I don't get why you like the humans so much." Thundercracker turned to stare at his enemy companion.

Hound spread his hands out. "I don't think it's something you can pinpoint. I mean I like Spike because he's friendly, open, brave and has taken us into his life without any real problem. Not all humans are like that, but everyone deserves a chance." The scout pointed at the seeker. "Let me ask you something then. Why do you want to destroy them? They offer you no real threat, they're just defending their home."

"It's what Decepticons do, or hadn't you noticed?" Thundercracker snapped, refusing to meet Hound's optics.

"You wouldn't be out here talking to me if you were that enamoured of the cause," Hound pointed out.

Thundercracker folded his arms over his cockpit as he glared out across the landscape. At first Hound thought he wasn't going to get a real answer but then, abruptly, the blue mech spoke out. "Rub it in, why don't you? I know I'm not what I'm supposed to be, I know I'm a little different and that I have my doubts. I joined because Megatron made the future sound fairer and Skywarp got so caught up in it all, I couldn't let him go by himself. I just think battles should have honour to them, but most Cons would just stab you in the back for saying that, so I keep quiet and blend in."

The Autobot sat in silence for a moment, truly stunned the seeker would be that honest with him and he took a risk in reaching out to the other mech. In their times together they had not touched - it had seemed an unwritten rule, not to cross that boundary - but Hound was a tactile mech and after such an announcement, he felt it was worth the chance.

His hand barely made contact with Thundercracker's arm before the seeker had swung round to look at him, but he continued to let his hand rest there as he said, "Thank you. You didn't have to tell me that."

Almost instantly the blue mech was looking away again, a scowl on his faceplates, but he didn't shrug the scout off or say anything that told Hound his words were unwelcome. The Autobot had learnt by now that a sullen, grumpy-looking seeker was not necessarily how the mech was feeling inside. Being around Decepticons had taught Thundercracker what expressions he could and could not show to the world, and Hound was merely learning to read the other mech a little better. Time would only help.

Thundercracker abruptly sighed,

"It's that time again."

"Duty calls," Hound answered knowingly.

"Yeah, Megatron's called up the flyer's to do some actual training," Thundercracker shrugged one shoulder. "Starscream will say he's above it all, Megatron will yell. Typical day in the submerged space ship."

"Have fun then," Hound grinned.

Thundercracker shot him a sour look before he climbed to his feet, Hound following suit so they were standing together on the rocky outcrop over looking the forest. The seeker fired up his thrusters so they took him a little way off the ground before he started moving off over the edge. The blue mech shot a look back over his shoulder and met Hound's optics. Their gaze held for a few seconds, Thundercracker's expression softening a little before he dipped his head slightly and head out across the sky.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
Notes:** Thanks to all of you have read this little bit of crack! :D It means a lot to me, cause it's my unstated personal mission to spread the love for these two!

It had been a quiet drive, nothing of note this far out into the wilderness and certainly no Decepticons. The green Jeep wound its way through the trees on the dirt track, sweeping the area for signs of danger, either for himself or any humans in the vicinity. Hound was out alone because this trail was rough enough even Trailbreaker would have problems.

'_Hound to Ark.'_

'_Blaster here. Anything happenin' out your way?'_

Just as Hound was about to give the all clear a Seeker streaked across the sky, travelling rapidly, streaking smoke from one thruster. The Autobot slammed on his brakes, juddering to a halt as he tracked Thundercracker across the sky.

'_Yo, Hound?'_

'_What? Oh right, yeah, sorry. All's clear here, just rough going. I'm going to be awhile getting back. I wouldn't send anyone else out this way.'_

'_Roger that. There ain't no one for miles of you. See you round.'_

Hound transformed as soon as he cut the communication to Blaster and took off on foot across the side of the mountain. The mech had told him he was alone out here, so who in Primus' name had damaged Thundercracker? The jet rumbled through the sky overhead, clearly hanging around the remote area, like he had nowhere better to go, or maybe, didn't want to be some place in particular.

They were no where near their usual meeting place, so Hound slithered through the forest looking for a place to be able to see the seeker better and maybe signal him. He daren't use comms unless someone was listening in. It would be extremely unlikely, but it wasn't worth the risk to either of them. It wasn't long until he found a small clearing amongst the trees, which he stepped out into, letting the sunlight catch the glass of his headlights to make a reflective beacon shine skywards.

The light blue seeker took a moment to spot it but when he did he turned, dipped one wing towards Hound before circling away again. The scout saw the acknowledgement but guessed Thundercracker wasn't ready to talk yet. The real reason suddenly became abruptly clear when Skywarp teleported into view and Hound froze, calling a hologram up to hide himself from view. The chunky green Autobot became a dense scrubby fir tree instantly but he never stopped directing his attention skywards.

"TC, what the slag are you doing?" Skywarp yelled as he transformed.

"Getting the pit out of dodge, what do you think?" Thundercracker joined his trine mate and friend in robot mode. They hovered over the forest, one of Thundercracker's thrusters still smoking slightly.

"You never cut and run!" the purple seeker protested.

"I slagging do when Megatron's beating on me!" Thundercracker snarled. "I'm not stupid."

Hound's optics widened at the seeker's words. Megatron?

"Aw, c'mon, it wasn't that bad."

"When was the last time he picked on you, huh?" Thundercracker pressed in closer to Skywarp, digit jabbing the other seeker in the cockpit. "It's been meta-cycles cause I've always got your back. Where were you today huh? Nowhere! What did I get? One slagged off Megatron picking on me because Starscream had already fled and I was the closest mech he could find to resemble the object of his fragging rage!"

The light blue seeker was screaming at this point, venting fury at the confused looking Skywarp. Hound winced. Thundercracker was normally careful to stay out of range of Megatron but clearly he hadn't today. The green mech felt a stirring of worry for the seeker. He knew the other mech was tough, but it didn't matter when the mech that was targeting you was Megatron and you couldn't even fight back against it. Anger quickly followed the anxiety. It just wasn't _right_. Megatron wasn't fit to be a leader, not in the slightest.

The purple seeker threw his hands up abruptly. "Primus, Thundercracker, you're worse than Screamer. Loosen up a bit already!"

"Skywarp…" the other seeker growled, optics narrowing.

"Frag you then," Skywarp snapped in reply before teleporting away so no one was witness to the light blue seeker suddenly sagging in the air, head dropping. No one apart from Hound, who lost the hologram and called out softly, "You ok?"

The black helm twitched in his direction before Thundercracker let himself drop earthwards. He landed on one foot before gently setting the other down and now he was closer Hound could see the dents littering his frame. "Slag… he really did a number on you, didn't he?"

Thundercracker glared at the ground mutely. He hated that Megatron had picked on him and he hadn't gotten out of it unhurt. His pride stung that an Autobot was offering him sympathy, _again_, when his own trine mates wouldn't, but somewhere, deep in his spark, there was a little flare of happiness that Hound cared. It confused and angered him. Life would be so much simpler if he could be like the others.

"Thundercracker?" Hound's voice showed his concern at his silence.

"I'm fine," the bigger mech said gruffly.

"Ok." Hound knew enough not to push, but as the silence dragged he felt uncomfortable enough to try to start up a conversation. "You know, I'm surprised you're not beating the slag out of some poor innocent mountain." A small smile quirked Thundercracker's mouth upwards briefly and Hound continued. "Though I suppose it's not that you want to beat up now."

Thundercracker's hands clenched into fists as his anger rose with his memory but still he said nothing. Hound debated his next thought momentarily before deciding it was worth the risk. "Go with me on this, ok?"

Thundercracker looked up at him then and Hound raised his hand, concentrating. An image, taller than either of them, shimmered into view before solidifying into the Decepticon leader. Thundercracker's optics widened at it.

"What the slag?"

"He's what you want to direct your anger against," Hound shrugged. "I can't give you the real mech, but you can have the next best thing."

"That's… that's treason!"

"Who are we going to tell? It hurts no one and you'll feel better, trust me," Hound replied.

Thundercracker jerked his gaze back to Hound at his last words, studying him intently before turning back to 'Megatron'. Slowly, almost tentatively, he reached out and poked the grey chest. His finger hit a vaguely solid surface; it felt like static covering metal and he frowned at Hound, who shrugged.

"I can make them look and sound real but making them completely solid to the touch is much trickier."

"It's weird. He looks real and my sensors give me all the right readings but he feels like he's half not there." Thundercracker poked the image again, this time harder, enough to make a metallic thud. Red optics ticked upwards towards the impassive face and down again. One black hand curled into a fist and rose until it was level with his shoulder. There it hovered.

"I can't…"

Hound inched backwards as he said, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

The blue seeker shuttered his optics tight as unbidden memories sprang up, dragging with them pain, humiliation and anger. Before he'd registered the thought his fist was flying through the air and connecting with that vague solid surface. The resulting clang made him freeze briefly ahead of a snarl twisted up Thundercracker's face plates and he laid into the image with a vengeance. Hound watched the other mech beat the slag out of his hologram and slowly added in detail of damage as Thundercracker gave his 'leader' one pit of a work over, until the seeker stopped. His intakes were working nosily as he stood, vaguely hunched over, optics shuttered and frame shaking ever so slightly. His knuckles looked battered and Hound knew he hadn't been pulling his punches in the least.

"Feel better?" Hound asked as he got rid of the hologram.

There was a pause before the seeker straightened, studied his hands and then nodded. "Actually, yes I do." He flashed Hound a broad smile. "Thanks."

Hound didn't stop the answering smile. "You're welcome."

"I didn't think I was that angry." Thundercracker glanced back at the empty space where the hologram had stood. "I guess it's been building up. How did you know?"

Hound shrugged one shoulder. "You don't talk to anyone about this stuff but me. You don't see me that often so it had to be all pent up. All it took was an incident like this morning to set you off." The scout looked uncomfortable for a moment. "For all your differences, you're still a Decepticon and violence is what you know."

Thundercracker nodded. "Still doesn't mean you had to do that for me."

The Autobot chuckled softly. "What, and miss the chance to see someone beat the slag out of Megatron?"

As the seeker laughed Hound silently added, 'and that's what friends do', before saying out loud, "I can't stay long. I'm due back from patrol soon and the going's really rough around here."

Thundercracker glanced around the wood and then skyward. "It's hard to tell from up there." He paused, weighing up something before he asked, "You want a lift?"

Hound could tell he was trying for nonchalance but it came out with an edge of uncertainty to it. It was terribly, terribly sweet because it was almost like the seeker was trying to give him something back for what he'd just done, a physical thank you. _Sweet?_ Hound blinked at his own thoughts. Since when did he think of Thundercracker as sweet? It threw him and he stumbled over his answer, "Er, no, I erm… I'm not a great flyer, to be honest."

Thundercracker tried to brush it off, accept his answer as it was, but he felt a little bit of disappointment. It didn't make sense but he wanted Hound to say yes. His answer should have meant nothing, he was the enemy for frag's sake!

"Fine," the seeker's voice came out brusquely. "I should probably be getting back anyway."

"Thundercracker…" Hound reached out then, realising something had gone wrong somewhere in their conversation but the seeker shrugged him off, rising into the air.

"See you around."

Hound watched him go and felt lost, confused. What the pit had just happened? He just turned down a lift, from an injured mech who shouldn't be doing any such thing anyway and it was like Thundercracker was angry at him for doing it. That didn't make sense. Why should Thundercracker be irritated at Hound when he'd just given him the chance to cool off like that?

Tumultuous, circular thoughts plagued Hound all the way back to the Ark, so much so he passed Mirage, Jazz and Wheeljack without more than monosyllabic greeting.

"What's eatin' Hound?" Jazz asked as they watched the green scout trudge into the base.

As it was it was several days before Hound ventured up to the meeting place on the cliff. No one was there and Hound didn't know whether to feel relieved or upset. As he paced the rocky ledge he came across something very out of place and he knelt down to get a closer look. A tiny, perfectly woven nest was lying on a pile of rocks, sheltered from the wind, but it hadn't been put there by any bird.

Gently and ever so carefully because of the massive size difference between the fragile nest and Hound's fingers, he picked the nest up. He was always amazed at how such tiny organics could make something quite so incredible. It was a work of art; completely enclosed apart from a small entrance hole. As he turned the ball of sticks and moss he noticed a piece of paper sticking out from the entrance and frowned.

With a look of pure concentration Hound pulled the paper free and unrolled it. Even that was difficult because the paper was small and tightly curled. Eventually he laid it flat across one thigh and saw a short scrawl of Cybertronian written across it; 'Sorry.'

"Thundercracker," Hound whispered. It must have taken the seeker ages to find the nest and then the paper, let alone write on it in such tiny script. "You didn't need to do this."

A bloom of warmth and happiness swelled up from his spark. No uncaring mech went to such trouble as this, no Decepticon would. Thundercracker was a conundrum alright. The green mech carefully subspaced the note and then the nest. He would treasure it.

As he headed back to the Ark he found himself thinking what he could leave for Thundercracker as a thank you, an acknowledgement of the seeker's apologise and his acceptance of it. What did you get a seeker?

Thundercracker had put thought into his gift, that was clear. It was something Hound would find fascinating as a natural object, but it wasn't an easy to find or get to for him, being up a tree. Thinking along those lines led Hound's thoughts underground. There was a cave system not far from the Ark with some beautiful crystal formations in it. Hound was pretty sure Thundercracker wouldn't have been there because the seekers were never happy enclosed underground and in some ways the crystals reminded him of the Gardens in Praxus before they'd been utterly destroyed.

Hound paused. It didn't seem enough effort to just go and pick up a crystal. Thundercracker had put more effort in than that. Also one crystal wasn't much of a reminder of an entire beautiful garden stretching as far as the optic could see. That suddenly sparked an idea and hurriedly Hound searched through his filed images. Most of the data stored in his banks were images he could convert into holograms; sadly now, though, most of them were to do with the war and weapons, but he found the ones he was looking for. Now all he needed was that crystal, a data chip and a projector. The last two he had back in his room on the Ark. The first would only take him an hour to go find. The rest would be the tricky bit.

-

Thundercracker landed lightly on the rock ledge, disappointed that Hound wasn't there, but he instantly went to check whether his gift had been taken. The little circle of rocks lay empty, with clear prints around it that Thundercracker had no problem matching to Hound, even though he was no tracker. The seeker smiled. The scout had accepted his token then. His spark pulsed quietly and he laid one black hand over his chest, surprised it meant that much to him.

As he stood he noticed another set of Hound's prints on another area of the ledge and curiosity made him follow them over as they led to the back cliff face. Red optics glanced over the rock until a sparkle in the early morning sunlight caught his attention. Feeling a little like a magpie he'd learnt about when he'd been looking for that nest for Hound, Thundercracker prised the object that had caught his attention from its little hole. The blue seeker held the crystal up to the light and watched the light cast a rainbow of colours onto the rock face, before he turned the crystal over. Fixed to the bottom was a metal base with line wires running up two sides of the crystal from it. On it was engraved, in Cybertronian, 'home'.

Frowning, Thundercracker poked at the addition to the crystal and had to swallow a yelp when the world around him morphed into another world. He stared around him in amazement. If he didn't know better he would say he was standing back on Cybertron in the midst of the Praxus' Crystal Gardens. Everything shone and sparkled, casting light over his chassis.

"Primus…" Thundercracker turned full circle. "This is…" The mech looked back down at the crystal in the palm of one hand and felt the thoughts running through his CPU. He knew this was from Hound, that it was a thank you, but it was so much more than that. The time and effort that the scout must have gone to do this and to give such a gift to the enemy when it would have done much to boost morale amongst his own team mates was so very touching. Thundercracker couldn't deny he felt very moved by the gift.

As he took in the hologram he wondered just what this strange relationship was turning into. Before he would have just said they were mechs who talked, shared their problems. If they weren't at war, maybe they could even be friends, but these were the actions of close friends. Could he really be friends with an enemy soldier in the midst of this war? It wasn't right. Both sides would be dead against it. His own would kill him if they knew, but as he stared at the hologram, remembering Cybertron, Thundercracker realised he couldn't stop coming here and _being_ friends with Hound.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3  
Notes:** My thanks to my beta xRae Asakurax again. She does a wonderful job for me. Sorry for the delay on this, I've just had the most hectic weekend ever! Anyway, on with the crack... that may be developing plot now, fear the crack with plot!!

-

"Jazz, I need to talk to you."

The saboteur didn't jump at the sudden voice, even though the mech in question was nowhere in sight. "'M listenin'."

Mirage still didn't appear, but Jazz heard him shift slightly before he spoke. "I'm worried about Hound. He's been going out alone a lot recently."

Jazz shrugged, never taking his optics off the monitor in front of him.

"He's always done that 'n it's been slow recently."

"I know." Mirage still sounded a little upset. "It's just been a lot more than normal recently, and he's been doing that instead of spending the time with me. I know that sounds petty, but…"

"It ain't like 'im, yeah," Jazz frowned at the monitor. "Ya talked t' 'im?"

"He doesn't seem to realise that he's doing it. He apologised, but he's still going out." Mirage could just be heard pacing the floor.

"Ya want me t' talk t' 'im?"

"I hope it's just me."

"I'll talk t' Hound next opportunity I get," Jazz promised.

"Thank you."

Jazz could hear the relief in Mirage's voice before soft footsteps disappeared out the room. The saboteur sat thinking about what the blue and white mech had said. Mirage was not given to over-stating anything, but Jazz hadn't noticed anything untoward in Hound's general behaviour. Hound never really caught anyone's attention, he rarely got into trouble (if you ignored the amount of mud he trekked into the Ark), and was a good-natured mech.

The black and white mech used his access to Teletraan to locate Hound before he headed over to the rec room. Jazz paused in the doorway, spotting Hound sitting by himself at a table in one corner of the room. At this time, most mechs were either on duty or recharging. Hound had been let out of med bay yesterday, but was only on light duty, so clearly wasn't tired. The TIC watched him sigh, one finger drawing aimless circles on the table top and decided Mirage was right. Something was off.

"Hey Hound." Jazz slid into the seat opposite the scout with a grin. "Been up t' much?"

"Not a lot." Hound shrugged one shoulder. "It's been pretty quiet recently hasn't it?"

"Dead in the water," Jazz agreed. "Just Mirage has been sayin' ya've been gone quite a bit recently, was all."

The scout glanced away for the briefest instant, so quick that most mechs would have missed it. Most mechs weren't Jazz, though, and he caught it. His curiosity was piqued because he was close to damn sure anything Hound was about to say would be a lie, or not quite the truth.

"It's been quiet so I've been out enjoying this planet. I went to those crystal caves not long ago."

Jazz smiled easily back as his CPU turned Hound's words over. They sounded truthful enough, and if he hadn't have seen Hound look away like that he would never have doubted the honest bot sitting opposite him now. That and Mirage's concern about his friends regular, frequent disappearances. It wasn't that Hound was missing his shifts, Prowl had not said a word, or that he seemed out of spirits, but Mirage was his closest friend in the Ark and if he was worried, Jazz was too. It was an unwritten rule for Jazz, as third in command and head of special ops, to keep an optic on mechs that might cause trouble. Smokescreen did a similar job, though his methods were hugely different from Jazz's.

"Is there something the matter, Jazz?" Hound asked curiously.

"Nah, ya know me, always bein' nosey." Jazz waved away the question before standing to go. "'N anyways I gotta go. Duty calls 'n all that."

"See you."

Hound watched the black and white mech go, picking at the table top with one digit. It stung not to be able to tell Jazz the truth, but he was well aware of Jazz's other job, the one where those who were thought to be traitors disappeared. It wasn't like Hound thought anyone would just shoot him if they found out about his meetings with Thundercracker, but it was still something that would get him ear marked on his files; a potential hazard to security.

As if reading his thoughts, Teletraan's alarm suddenly started up, alerting everyone to the Decepticon attack on an army base not far away. Hurriedly the Autobots assembled, before Optimus led them out to counter their enemies. The humans were already fighting back - not even Decepticons could make them flee - and Prowl was soon co-ordinating the attack between the army and the Autobots. Optimus was off tracking down Megatron and the rest were soon engaging the Decepticon troops.

Unfortunately, both lead trines were present and none of the Autobots with flight capability, bar Sideswipe and his jetpack, were present. The red twin was trying his best to bring the seekers and coneheads within range of his brother and the others, but six versus one was an unfair advantage. Sideswipe tried his luck on Ramjet and the jet simply crashed into the nearest tree, knocking himself out and Sideswipe off. Dirge got in a shot that torn up the red Autobot's side as the mech tumbled through the trees.

Ironhide saved Sideswipe's life as Thrust followed his trine mate with his sights set on the downed red menace. A blast of liquid nitrogen froze one side of the jet, causing him to spiral away, cursing loudly. Ratchet was soon at Sideswipe's side with the yellow Twin hovering at his side, keeping Decepticons off him whilst he worked and all the while trading insults back and forth with his brother.

Hound and Mirage were working together in the trees, using them to their advantage to try and ambush Soundwave. The Decepticon and his cohorts couldn't get a clean shot at either of them, but his telepathy was making it extremely difficult for either of them to get close enough to return the favour. The green scout headed up through the trees to higher ground that was littered with caves to see if that would gain him a better shot, but that meant breaking cover occasionally and his luck didn't hold when Starscream spotted him.

Hound hissed when a stray shot from Starscream's strafe hit him in the shoulder, and he ducked into the nearest cave. He was barely inside when he stopped dead. Sitting against one wall was Thundercracker, somehow looking pissed and miserable at the same time. The Decepticon looked up and gave him a lopsided smile.

"That sniper of yours is a good shot."

"Bluestreak," Hound supplied, relaxing. He hadn't been sure how their tenuous friendship would hold up in a battle, and had been dreading coming face to face with the light blue seeker, especially since their last meeting hadn't ended so well. Granted they had accepted one another's apologies, but that wasn't the same as a face-to-face conversation.

"Yeah, that's the one," Thundercracker agreed, pointing to one foot. "Shot out my turbine so I'm not going anywhere fast." Hound nodded before removing his hand from his shoulder and swearing when he saw it coated in energon.

"Slag. I wish Starscream wasn't such a good shot either."

"He can be when he actually concentrates," Thundercracker muttered before hauling himself to his feet and limping over. "Let's see."

Hound turned to him, fingers returned to press over the wound. "I can't grip the ends of the line to tie them off and I'm going to need to or I'll pass out."

Thundercracker batted his hand away and stooped down slightly to get a better look, narrowing his optics before reaching up and burying two fingers in the open wound. Hound flinched but otherwise remained still, staring at the blue Seeker's bent head.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I don't want you to leak out all over the place. I like talking to you," Thundercracker absently replied as he worked.

Hound felt a smile cross his face, despite the pain radiating from his shoulder and the ache in his arm. He enjoyed Thundercracker's companionship as well. The seeker was intelligent, funny and not always bent on mindless violence like most of the Decepticons. The green scout stood watching the open entrance to the cave over Thundercracker's back. The last thing either of them wanted was to be joined by unexpected company.

"Well," Thundercracker announced as he straightened, "I'm not a medic but I think that should hold."

Hound peered at his shoulder, noting no more energon was running free, and then swung his arm to test its manoeuvrability. It still hurt and his arm was beginning to feel tingly, indicating he'd lost most of the energon flow into it, but for a short time he should be fine.

"Thank you."

Thundercracker looked mildly surprised, as if he had not expected to be thanked for his help, and nodded. "Of course."

The two regarded each other for a moment, each of them thinking their own, if not entirely different, thoughts before Thundercracker swung his optics away to look outside. "Battle's still going strong," he commented.

"We're pretty evenly balanced," Hound replied. "I think both sides are going to call it a draw today."

"Megatron will not be pleased," Thundercracker snorted, hobbling over to the cave wall and sliding back down to take the weight off his feet. Hound followed him over and crouched down next to him.

"Let me look at your turbine."

"You know anything about jet physiology?" the seeker asked, knowing the answer.

"Very little, but I have field medic training." The green mech lifted Thundercracker's leg to prop his foot up across his bent legs, twisting his upper body to get a better look. He gently, but firmly, felt down the back of Thundercracker's leg until the seeker winced, to understand how far up the damage went. "How, in Primus' name, did Bluestreak get a shot up inside your turbine?"

"Haven't a fragging clue. I was banking to avoid fire and the next thing I know it felt like someone had shoved a red hot laser up my aft and I was spiralling to the ground." Thundercracker threw his hands up. "I was lucky not to crash, but it was _not_ a dignified landing."

"I saw the smoke but I wasn't sure who it was." Hound ran his hands over the rest of Thundercracker's foot. "You've got loose pieces in there that need to come out and be replaced. I should think you won't be flying for a while."

"Thought as much," Thundercracker mumbled sourly. "Be lucky to get a lift back to base. They'll probably leave me here."

"You could…"

"Don't finish that sentence," Thundercracker interrupted. "You know I'm not risking it."

"The Autobots would repair you and I'm sure Megatron would want you back." Hound shrugged.

"Yeah, but how much would he beat the slag out me if he had to bargain for my return? Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather be stranded than have Megatron fragged at me for getting captured."

Hound's hands tightened momentarily on Thundercracker's leg, showing his feelings on the matter even though he kept his expression neutral. The blue mech gave him a lopsided smile before turning his head away. Hound knew thanks when he saw it on the seeker.

They sat in silence for a few moments, catching glimpses of the battle outside and hearing the booms and cracks of gunfire. Thundercracker's leg was still laid across Hound's lap and the green scout's fingers were running in small aimless patterns over the blue metal. The seeker never said a word, and never would, but he felt so much calmer like this, with Hound at his side. The mech didn't need to fill the silence with chatter and wasn't afraid to touch him.

Hound was vaguely aware he was almost petting Thundercracker's leg, but his touching was more to comfort himself than the Decepticon. He hated what he knew Thundercracker went back to, but knew the seeker wouldn't change his mind either. After the incident with the hologram, Hound had begun to understand a little more what sort of a vicious world Thundercracker lived in every day. He had grown closer to the seeker after they had exchanged gifts; there had been something unspoken, a line crossed somewhere, which meant they talked a little more seriously and openly about their problems.

The green mech glanced at the seeker's black hands momentarily. They still had streaks of energon on them, his energon, and Hound felt that gratitude again. He wasn't surprised by it, he would have felt it towards anyone who had patched him up like that, but towards Thundercracker, there seemed to be more of it, or more to it than that. Hound didn't know what though, but he could only hope it wouldn't cause problems between them.

"I should be going," Hound murmured. "If this battle's heading for a stalemate, Optimus will be ready to make a move, either way."

Thundercracker nodded and eased his leg off Hound's lap. The scout stood and offered the seeker a hand up, which Thundercracker took after a moment's consideration. Only a few months ago he would have ignored the help, and certainly wouldn't have laid a hand on his shoulder as he limped to the cave entrance alongside Hound.

"What are you going to do?"

Thundercracker frowned. "See if I can make it down this mountainside without being caught and find someone to give me a lift."

"Skywarp?" Hound glanced around, looking for the purple seeker.

"If he hasn't teleported into a tree." Thundercracker shook his head. "Get that shoulder seen to."

"I will," Hound nodded. "Take care of yourself."

Thundercracker gave him a sidelong look; one that said Hound's words were unneeded but appreciated, even if there would be little the seeker could actually do about it. The Autobot checked outside one last time before he jogged out of the cave to the nearest cover. His arm was completely numb by this stage and swung loosely at his side, making the slippery descent harder, but Hound was built for such terrain as this. Thundercracker wasn't though, and that thought made the green mech glance back up at the cave before it was lost from sight completely. He was shuffling along the rock edge, one hand on it for balance as he headed away from the cave and the Autobot side of the valley. Hound shook himself and headed deeper into the forest. The seeker was a big mech, he could look out for himself and he had his own problems to worry about.

By the time he made it down the hillside, back to the line, Optimus had gotten the better of Megatron and the Decepticons were beating a hasty retreat. Hound didn't get to see everyone leave so had no way of knowing if Thundercracker had made it, but he couldn't exactly go back and look, not with Ratchet shouting his audios off for not being more careful. Sideswipe got a lift back in Ratchet, as he was the most seriously hurt, and Hound was loaded into Optimus' trailer along with Windcharger and Ironhide who were sporting minor injuries.

Hound rode back in silence, listening to the two red mechs bicker and slag off Decepticons. The green scout was tired, his arm was a dead weight at his side but his shoulder was screaming in pain. He was also worried about the blue seeker, and knew there was absolutely nothing he could do to check up on him. It would be some time before either of them were out of med bay, if Thundercracker had even made it back to his.

All three of them had to wait whilst Ratchet hooked Sideswipe up to monitors and threatened his brother out of med bay. It gave Hound time to stew in his increasingly frustrated and anxious thoughts but he knew he couldn't let his feelings show. He wasn't close enough friends to anyone else in here to be that worried about them.

"I'll look at that shoulder now, Hound." Ratchet gestured him over and the scout seated himself on the berth.

Ratchet prodded and poked his shoulder, muttering quietly before straightening and staring at his patient. "How did you manage to tie off that line, exactly?"

Hound shrugged his good shoulder. "I got lucky I guess."

Ratchet pointedly dropped his optics to Hound's hands, whilst they were smeared in energon, the black fingers were chunky and blunt. Hound ignored the gaze and the CMO decided it wasn't worth the effort of finding out who crudely patched Hound up. If he ever did, though, he'd chew them up for doing such a bad job before thanking them for giving Hound the time to find help before he offlined from energon loss.

"Lie down then," Ratchet instructed. "I'm going to knock you out for this."

Hound shuttered his optics wearily. At least it would give him chance to rest from his thoughts. Ratchet worked quickly, since it was a simple injury to fix, and soon moved onto the other, less seriously hurt patients. Before long they were all resting, Sideswipe and Hound deep in recharge, giving Ratchet chance to write up his reports for Optimus. It had been a relatively successful fight, considering they hadn't been in danger of really losing anyone. That was success to Ratchet. He would prefer it if he had to do nothing and could just quietly get on with growing old, but that wasn't going to be happening any time soon.

The CMO looked up when the med bay doors hissed open and Jazz walked in jauntily. He glanced around the mechs in the med bay, nodding at Ironhide before crossing the floor to Ratchet.

"Hey what's up Docbot? How's all ya patients?" Jazz leant a hip against the table next to Ratchet.

"They'll be fine. Sideswipe will be laid up for awhile. Dirge shot out a lot of energon lines which will take some time to heal right." The CMO looked up at the saboteur then. "He will have driven me insane before it's time to kick him out."

Jazz snickered. "How 'bout Hound, Hide 'n Charger?"

"Hound will be out tomorrow, but he's not going back on active duty for a couple more days after that. Ironhide and Windcharger are fine for active duty, just make it light. They've got thick heads to go with their thick plating," Ratchet grumbled. "They won't listen."

"Right, ya the boss, boss," Jazz grinned.

"In here I'm Primus," Ratchet growled before turning to the black and white mech thoughtfully. "Do you know who did a patch job on Hound before he came in? Someone did, and it sure as pit wasn't him."

"Why not?" Jazz asked curiously, CPU running over the events in the battle.

"His digits are too big, they'd never of had enough room in his shoulder to tie off the cut energon line." Ratchet shook his head.

"I don't remember anyone sayin' anythin' 'bout runnin' patch jobs," Jazz frowned. "What did Hound say 'bout it?"

"He won't. Just said he got lucky." Ratchet narrowed his optics. "He's slagging well hiding something."

"It's alright Ratchet, I'll look into it." Jazz held up a placating hand. Things were stacking up against Hound's name, and Jazz was beginning to wonder just what was going on.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4  
Notes:** Thank you to all those people who have reviewed (have a cookie), are watching me and have favourited this story. It means a lot and the more people I convert the quicker Thundercracker will stop trying to make all my household machines into Decepticons! Thanks to me beta again, even though she's on holiday she's still reading my stuff! :D  
No one is allowed to kill me for leaving it where I do or otherwise you'll never know what happens :P

"Hey Hound!" Sideswipe beckoned him over. "Did you hear? Blue shot down Thundercracker in the last battle, right up his aft!" A round of laughter started up, and Bluestreak grinned shyly.

"Yeah, I saw the smoke." Hound nodded and then swallowed what felt like a rock in his throat. "Congratulations."

"Thanks Hound!" the young gunner beamed up at him and Hound felt sick. Bluestreak deserved the praise; being a sniper wasn't easy, Thundercracker was a hard target and had it been anyone else Hound would have been happy for him, but it was Thundercracker. It made Hound's tanks churn and made him feel confused, his feelings warring with each other over who was more important to him.

The others didn't notice him slip away quietly when Sideswipe started talking again, except Jazz. The blue visor tracked his process out the door, taking in his miserable expression, and the saboteur excused himself from the conversation quickly to follow the scout. Sneaking anywhere after Hound was a lesson in stealth in itself, but the black and white mech wasn't head of Special Ops for nothing.

Hound took himself off base and into the forest, driving for quite some way into the wilderness and pushing at Jazz's ability to stay with him over the rough ground, his stiff racing suspension making the ride exceptionally uncomfortable. After a while Jazz suspected Hound just might be out for a drive, because the path he was on was well worn, but when the scout stopped, transformed and headed into the trees on foot, then Jazz knew he was onto something.

Carefully he tracked him through the trees, knowing his paintjob would really make him stand out if Hound caught a glimpse of him, and watched him step out onto a rocky mountain ledge. Stopping where he was, hiding from sight but so he could still see Hound, Jazz observed the other mech search the platform for something and then sigh loudly when he seemed to find nothing. The green mech looked skywards, out over the forest, and whispered, "I hope you're alright."

The saboteur frowned sharply and stayed exactly where he was as Hound left again until he was out of sensor range, before he stepped out onto the ledge himself. He swung his gaze around, taking in the prints Hound had left in the dusty ground. There were faint prints under those, indicating Hound had been here many times before. Jazz stepped lightly around the edge of the platform, treading only on the rocks that wouldn't leave a trace of his presence until he found what he'd been looking for.

In the dirt, barely discernable it was so old, was another print, one that was completely different from Hound's. The black and white mech recognised it instantly as a seeker footprint. No one else had anything like it. Jazz glanced back over his shoulder at the forest, CPU working swiftly.

Hound had looked upset when he'd talked about Thundercracker, had left quickly after that to come out here where there were old seeker prints, he had been worried about some one, but no one but him had been here recently. His absences from the Ark had been increasing, though he never neglected his duties, and then there was that incident in the last battle. Ratchet wouldn't be wrong about someone else having patched Hound up, the medic knew what he was talking about.

Jazz shook his head sharply. He found it difficult to believe Hound was coming out here to meet Thundercracker, let along that the seeker would patch up an Autobot in the midst of a battle, but everything was pointing that way. It left Jazz with a difficult decision. He had no proof of any of this, beyond guess work and a few old prints in the dust, but he should still report his suspicions to Optimus. The third in command grimaced. Optimus had enough to deal with, without having to worry about one of his own regularly meeting the enemy in secret. If he told Prowl, Prowl would deal with it in his usual, straightforward, by the books way, which would mean arresting Hound straight up, and that wasn't going to help anyone. Jazz didn't believe Hound was leaking information to the Decepticons. The saboteur may have a wary outlook, but he knew everyone on the Ark well, he'd seen their files, seen them in action. Hound was one of the least likely to betray them.

The only way Jazz could solve this was actual evidence and the only way to get that was to follow Hound around. He scowled. He would have to rearrange his schedule with Prowl, without drawing suspicion. Playing against Prowl's logic was never an easy task and Jazz hoped this was all a misunderstanding, or something that would benefit the Autobots in time. He couldn't imagine just what would be going on in the Decepticon base if this is what he wanted it to be.

-

Thundercracker was sat up on his berth, red optics fixed on the door. His damaged left foot was stretched out in front of him, with plates missing from it and most of the internal workings exposed. Hook was working on replacement parts but it was taking time because Starscream was refusing to help with the complexities of jet physiology. It left Thundercracker stranded, barely able to walk anywhere now, and _that_ made him vulnerable as slag in the Decepticon base.

Hook was notorious for not letting anyone but the Constructicons into the medbay, so Skywarp would only pay fleeting visits and certainly wasn't around for back-up. The Constructicons themselves pretty much ignored the seeker in the corner, but Thundercracker could deal with them. It wasn't the other soldiers he was worried about. It was their great and glorious leader.

The blue seeker had missed the call for a retreat back on the mountain and had been stuck out on the hillside for nearly five hours before Skywarp had turned up for him. The purple flyer had been quiet, and once they got back to the Nemesis Thundercracker knew why. Megatron was furious, as he always was after Prime had beaten him, and the fact that not all of his lackeys had made it back under their own steam just added to his rage. He called Thundercracker incompetent and the blue seeker's right wing had a dent in it that exactly matched Megatron's fist.

Medbay was the safest place for him; Megatron didn't come here often, but it also left him cornered. He hadn't got a decent recharge cycle in nearly three days and was exhausted, but he couldn't let that show either. What that had also done was leave him far too much time to think, and there was one thing dominating his thoughts. Hound.

Thundercracker knew Hound would have made it back to his friends, that they would never have left him out there alone, injured. He was also aware that Hound would be repaired by now, if not necessarily back on duty, and that was a comforting feeling, even if that made him angry at the same time. It wasn't fair that their treatment could be so very different.

One black hand clenched into a tight fist unconsciously. Thundercracker knew he was very disillusioned with the Decepticon cause, but being friends with Hound, hearing what really went on in the Autobot camp, just made it worse. He was more aware than any of them the startling differences between the two sides, though most Decepticons wouldn't care less. That other little fact made Thundercracker feel like even more of an outsider and the only one he could talk to about this was Hound. It was a repeating cycle Thundercracker found himself trapped in.

The seeker had been forced to admit to himself that talking to the green mech had made him feel infinitely better, even though it just compounded the problem. He knew that giving that outlet up would stifle him, and, well, he _enjoyed_ it, and that was a selfish enough reason to never stop. As Thundercracker wasn't willing to give Hound up then that left him in exactly this situation, going round and round in circles.

"This fragging sucks," he muttered darkly.

"Mix, if I have to tell you one more time!" Hook's voice rang out from the other side of the medbay and Thundercracker glanced over to see the crane Constructicon chase the other away. Mixmaster had a jar of liquid in one hand and a manic grin on his faceplates. Hook scowled at his teammate's back as Scrapper appeared next to him.

"He's right you know," Scrapper commented. "You are taking too long, again."

"It has to be perfect!" Hook retorted. "I can't let it be anything other than perfect."

"Megatron won't take that as an excuse." the leader of the Constructicons shook his head. "I finished designing this new weapon of his orns ago, but you haven't even started on it."

"You exaggerate," Hook snorted, turning back to his work on one of the delicate pieces of machinery for Thundercracker's turbine. "And repairs come first. There is little point building something so spectacular without mechs to guard it."

Scrapper preened, just a little, which is what Hook wanted, and let Hook get on with his work in peace. The blue seeker let out a little huff of air in relief. Scrapper could have ordered Hook off the repairs he was doing if he so wanted, which would have left Thundercracker facing an indeterminate length of time in medbay. For once Thundercracker was glad Hook was such a perfectionist.

The relief didn't last long as Megatron slammed his way through the medbay doors. The blue mech didn't know how you slammed your way through doors that slid out of your way, but the Decepticon leader always seemed to manage it. Practice, he guessed.

"Hook!" Megatron bellowed. To give the Constructicon his due, he didn't flinch, but calmly put his tools down and turned to face the bigger mech. "Why haven't you started on my new weapon!"

"I have yet to finish repairs on Thundercracker."

The injured mech in question had frozen when Megatron had burst into the medbay, hoping not to attract the grey mech's attention, but now he carefully avoid making optic contact when Megatron swung around in his direction. He was well aware he was still in Megatron's bad data files. "You! You're holding everyone up! Again!"

Thundercracker winced. "My lord, I did not mean…"

"Shut up!" Megatron stormed over to him and hauled him off the berth by both wings, making the seeker hiss in pain. "I should just throw you out to rust in the sea!" He shook Thundercracker, hands tightening on his sensitive wings, leaving more imprints in the metal.

"Megatron, you're simply making more work for me, which means I will have to delay the start of the project." Hook folded his arms over his chest. "Do you want your lead trine out of action for that long?"

Megatron glared at the Constructicon but dropped Thundercracker nevertheless. The blue seeker crumpled into a heap and stayed still, red optics fixed of the bigger grey chassis above him. The Decepticon leader grunted, kicked his injured leg once, out of spite, before rotating to face Hook again.

"You've got a joor to finish his repairs. When a joor is up you start work on my new weapon or you'll be needing to repair yourself!"

"Understood," Hook nodded. Megatron glared once more at Thundercracker before striding out of the medbay. Once the doors were shut again the seeker hauled himself to his one good foot and leant back against the berth, optics fixed on the floor to hide his expression of hate and pain. It wasn't one he should share with anyone, but he couldn't seem to school his features into neutral at the moment. What he wouldn't give for Hound's hologram right about now.

Hook snorted, making Thundercracker look up curiously, and the Constructicon shook his head. "Savage."

A small smile quirked at Thundercracker's mouth. Hook glanced at him. "You, berth, now."

The blue mech complied, and when he was settled he asked,

"Will you be done in time?"

"Yes," Hook replied, already back to work. "I'm nearly done as it is. Mechs can be so over dramatic and impatient."

"I'm not."

"Thankfully," Hook agreed. "You're one of my better patients."

Thundercracker settled back to wait a little longer. He was blowing this joint, as the fleshlings put it, after that. Just a shame he couldn't blow up this joint. His mutinous thoughts set another scowl on his face. Just when had getting out of the Nemesis become more of a priority than anything, bar staying alive, in his life? Once he used to have fun, enjoyed his time flying with Skywarp and Starscream, fighting for a cause he believed in. Now…

The seeker rubbed his face tiredly. Why was his life like this? He suspected it would be a lot less complicated if he'd never spoken to Hound, just flown away, or done what he should have done, blown a hole in the green mech's chassis, but that wasn't his style. There was no honour in a fight like that. Hound hadn't been armed when he stepped out of the trees. Most Decepticons would have killed him, calling him naïve and a trusting fool, but Thundercracker was now beginning to realise that Hound wouldn't have stepped out of the forest for any of the other Decepticons. That and no other Decepticons would have been caught blowing up a mountain in frustration at their bad day.

Thundercracker frowned abruptly. How had Hound known he wouldn't attack him? Granted he'd taken a risk, but it had to have been a calculated one, based on facts he knew about the seeker. Was he that easy to read to the other side? A quick little shake of the head; no, otherwise the others wouldn't attack him like they attacked all the other Decepticons. If that was the case though, that made Hound very perceptive.

One single thought was suddenly very loud in his CPU; had Hound noticed Thundercracker's change in attitude towards him recently?

The blue mech froze, optics widening. What? Had his reactions to Hound really changed that much recently, and to what? What the slag was going on in his own head now? The seeker roughly pushed the confusion to one side to sift through his thoughts slowly, really studying them carefully, because he'd only just come to terms with the fact he could call Hound a friend, let alone _anything_ else. He certainly hadn't gone backwards in their relationship.

Relationship… Did they have one of those? Well, of course they did, they were friends. A relationship didn't have to mean a _romantic_ one and Thundercracker didn't want a romantic relationship with Hound necessarily, did he?

"Right, you, lie down," Hook's voice interrupted his musing, and the seeker was grateful to the halt in his increasingly confusing thoughts. He did as he was asked and then tried to lie still as Hook rebuilt his leg. Another thing the Constructicon was infamous for was repairing injuries without offlining any of the pain receptors. Most of Thundercracker's leg was numb anyway, because there was nothing for the pain receptors to connect to, but as the crane reattached vital parts those receptors let him know just what he'd been missing as they were manhandled.

About five hours later Hook was finished and dismissed Thundercracker almost as soon as he had finished attaching the last plate. The blue seeker gratefully slid off the berth before tentatively planting both feet firmly on the floor. It felt a little odd to start with, he'd grown used to limping but he was soon striding out across the floor, heading for the doors and freedom. If anyone asked, he was going to test out his new turbine. He wasn't needed anyway, and Megatron would definitely prefer not to see his face around for a while. Thundercracker agreed with him on that score.

He headed from the medbay to the tower system that would let him out into the open sky, passing mechs without a word. Only a few greeted him, most just ignored him. Each had their own little group within the Decepticons; combiners didn't mix with seekers, combiners didn't even play well with other gestalts.

Starscream glanced up from his work at the open door of his lab, just in time to see Thundercracker walk past. He looked to be deep in thought, from the way his brow was furrowed. The Air Commander shrugged one shoulder. He had noticed Thundercraker's extended absences, Skywarp had been annoying him a lot more because of them, but he couldn't say he particularly cared. The blue seeker still did his job and pulled his weight within the trine, so Starscream had no reason to care why he didn't spend time aboard the Nemesis. He didn't have the sheer ambition of the lead seeker, which was just fine with Starscream.

Thundercracker was nearly at the entrance to the tower system when footsteps behind him told him he wasn't alone, but he ignored them, or tried to. When they refused to go away he muttered, "What do you want?"

"You're going out again?" Skywarp's voice sound vaguely miserable.

Thundercracker paused, glancing back over his shoulder. "After that, do you blame me?"

Skywarp shrugged. "Nah, it's just you've been gone much more. You can't tell me you like this miserable little dust bowl of a planet?"

Thundercracker thought back to the crystal hidden in his room and lied, just a touch. "No, but I've seen enough of the inside of this spaceship to hate it. I'd rather be out flying."

"How come you always do that alone then? We use to do that together." Skywarp folded his arms over his chest.

Thundercracker fell silent, unable to come up with an answer since he didn't want to lie to his oldest friend. It was true, he had been neglecting his friendship with Skywarp, and despite the purple seeker being one of the reasons he left the Nemesis sometimes, he still got on well with him. "Warp, I leave so I don't have to think about all of this."

"And I remind you of it," Skywarp guessed shrewdly.

"You know what I think of… this…" Thundercracker gestured sharply at the ship around them. "I know you don't agree with me either."

"No, I don't understand it." Skywarp shook his head. "But I haven't told anyone."

Thundercracker folded his own arms over his chest, unsure what to say or do. Skywarp made a disappointed noise. "I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. See you around when you care, TC." He turned to leave.

"Skywarp…" Thundercracker protested.

"Think about it." Skywarp didn't stop walking away down the corridor.

"Slag it!" Thundercracker swore when his friend was out of sight around a corner and slammed his fist into the nearest bulkhead.

"Ship abuse: not advised," Soundwave's voice told him steadily.

Thundercracker lifted his head to glare at Soundwave, who had appeared next to him, uncaring he'd been caught beating up a wall. "Frag off."

"Caution advised," Soundwave intoned.

"What caution?" Thundercracker inspected his knuckles before dropping his hand.

"Thoughts unhidden."

The blue seeker abruptly stiffened. "You've been snooping around in my head, haven't you?"

Soundwave tilted his head slightly. "Required."

"So?" Thundercracker snarled, suddenly angry because he was scared just what Soundwave would do with whatever he'd dug up in his CPU. The disaffected thoughts about the Decepticon cause was an equal worry to his feelings about Hound. Either could end up with him permanently offline.

"Currently no one aware," the blocky mech stated. "Advice: remains that way."

Thundercracker blinked. "You're not telling anyone about…?"

"Does not affect Megatron," Soundwave replied in that same monotone voice, but Thundercracker could have sworn it sounded amused.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," the seeker guessed, and Soundwave inclined his head slightly. Thundercracker narrowed his optics. "Why don't you care?"

"Thundercracker: alone. Soundwave: not." the dark blue mech abruptly turned and left the seeker staring at his retreating back.

Thundercracker stood wondering what the pit the last conversation had been about. It made him wonder if Soundwave had a spark under that emotionless façade. Until that last comment, they could have been talking about Thundercracker's less-than-positive attitude towards Megatron's leadership and the Decepticon cause as a whole. Thundercracker might have been able to deal with it if it had been about that, but the whole comment about being alone? What the pit was that suppose to mean?

The seeker knew that Soundwave had his family, in the cassettes, and that no one would ever mess with it. They were closer than anyone could be, barring bonding, and they would fight their own little corner against all comers. Thundercracker glanced back down the now empty corridor. There were very few that would fight his corner, but no one could boast what he could, if he'd dared to even consider it. An Autobot would stand with him.

Oh frag this. Frag Soundwave and his enigmatic comments. Thundercracker was _leaving_ right now and he stormed into the control room, feet making the room echo. Thrust, on duty, took one look at the set, angry lines on Thundercracker's face and attempted to duck behind his station without actually making it look like he was hiding.

"Open the door, Thrust. Now."

"Have you got permission…" Thrust tried weakly.

Thundercracker raised one arm as he powered up his weapon and pointed it at the conehead's face. "Will this do?" he snapped.

"Perfectly!" Thrust rapidly punched in the code to make the tower rise and the door open. The gap was barely wide enough to admit Thundercracker, but he transformed and powered through it. The blue seeker deliberately let off a boom as he did so, deafening the hapless mech in control room. It wasn't Thrust's fault that Thundercracker was in such a foul mood, but it helped alleviate some of those bad feelings and he flew on feeling better.

That mood grew as he approached the rendezvous point, but the blue seeker saw an empty ledge and felt rising disappointment. Before he stopped to leave the trees moved just a little, and as he dropped lower he could just barely make out a green chassis moving through the forest. All his worries that had built up on his over the last few days stuck in the Nemesis fell away from him now he had seen Hound. Thundercracker rapidly descended to the rock platform, wishing to be there before the Autobot. It would good to be with someone that genuinely cared and just wanted his company for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes:** Thank you to all of you guys reading this. I've had some wonderful comments and PMs that are really keeping me going and suggest I'm not the only one who likes crack! This chapter speeds things up a little, we've got some big developments coming up. No more slow! Right we kick off straight after the end of the last chapter.

**Chapter 5**

"Hey Hound, you're late." Thundercracker greeted him with a smile, letting the Autobot know he didn't mind waiting. The fact that he'd just arrived himself was not the point.

"Yeah sorry, got caught up back on base," Hound replied, stepping out of the trees to join the seeker. "I wasn't sure you'd be out today."

"I'd had enough of being cooped up." Thundercracker shrugged one shoulder. "Had to get out, and I missed…"

"Hound, wait up!" A voice called out from the trees, and the mechs in the clearing froze. Hound turned on one heel just as Mirage stepped out of the woods. "I wanted to ask…"

Mirage stumbled to a halt and stared with wide optics at Thundercracker, who looked almost as stunned and a little put out. His gaze slid to Hound, who looked mildly embarrassed.

"…What are… Did you know… Why…"

"It's alright Mirage." Hound held out a hand to stop his friend's splutters. "Thundercracker isn't causing any trouble."

"But… but what are you doing?" Mirage was frantically glancing between the pair, and watched as they shot each other a closed look.

"Mirage," Hound began, trying to decide how honest to be. Mirage was a good friend and he didn't want to cut him out of it all, but he also was friends with Thundercracker. He didn't want to hurt the seeker's feelings either. "Thundercracker and I are friends."

"Friends?" Mirage asked blankly.

"Friends," Thundercracker repeated firmly, taking it from Hound to confirm their get-togethers. "We've been meeting here for a while now."

"You… meet a Decepticon… regularly?" Mirage's voice was weak.

Hound nodded. "But we don't talk about anything important to the war or anything like that."

"Look, it all started out an accident, we got talking and that's it." Thundercracker threw up his hands and Mirage flinched slightly. "I'm not turning him into a 'con. He's too good for that."

Hound watched his friend sort things through in his head before he asked softly, "you're not a traitor?" The scout shook his head vigorously and the spy seemed to relax. "Then I'm ok with this, I think. I'm not sure it sits right in my CPU, but if you're happy being friends with him, I guess I'm happy to let you. Just don't let anyone else know."

"We hadn't planned on it." Hound smiled crookedly.

Mirage nodded absently. "Well, I'll see you back at base then."

And with that he disappeared back into the trees, with one backwards glance over his shoulder at the seeker. Thundercracker visibly relaxed once he was gone and Hound chuckled. "He had you worried then."

Thundercracker scowled and thumped Hound on the shoulder. "No." Hound's laughter grew a little and the seeker couldn't stop the smile appearing on his own face. "I just didn't want us getting reported. I'd miss this."

Hound's smile changed then, to something more serious. "Me too. You know, you had me afraid something had happened. I thought you'd be out a lot quicker."

Thundercracker's smile faded and he turned away, mumbling, "Yeah…"

"What happened? Did Megatron…?" Hound laid a hand on the seeker's arm.

Thundercracker looked back at the scout, hearing the concern in the other mech's voice, and couldn't keep him in the dark. "Yeah he wasn't pleased, having to send someone back to fetch me, not after we lost the battle. I bore the brunt of his… displeasure."

Hound's hand tightened on his arm, and Thundercracker covered it with own, listening to the outrage in the normally placid Autobot's voice. "He's not fit to be a leader! I _hate_ it when you go back to that. I get so scared you won't come back to me one day…" Hound suddenly faltered and tried to draw away but the seeker kept a hold on his hand, turning back to him. The scout refused to look at him, voice barely audible. "I don't know what I'd do if you didn't."

Thundercracker touched the side of the green helm, fingers barely brushing the metal, but it was enough to startle Hound into looking up. The seeker briefly wondered what he was doing but his need to comfort Hound overrode that. "I'm going to try my hardest not to let that happen," the seeker whispered, fingers settling more firmly around Hound's helm and thumb just touching his cheek. "You're worth coming back to."

Hound's optics shuttered briefly as he leant into the black hand on his face, and covered it with his own, murmuring, "And you're worth waiting for."

When those blue optics opened again for him, Thundercracker could see all the emotions held tense in the green frame, pouring from his optics, asking for it all to be true and not a lie. There was only one way he could think of to prove it, to reassure the mech that had slowly come to mean more to him than he thought possible.

Hound let loose a little sigh as Thundercracker bent down to kiss him. The warm air drifted over the seeker's lips before they pressed to his. The soft caress that the kiss started as was lost as a sudden flare of passion and heat burst up between them. The scout found the bigger Decepticon pressing him into his frame, the glass of his cockpit rubbing down the front of his bumper and gripped Thundercracker's shoulders tightly, trying to pull him closer. One of the seeker's hands wandered down his side before curling around the small of his back and one of his legs nudged between Hound's.

Thundercracker pulled back abruptly, trying to fight the urge to throw the other mech to the floor and overload him, dominate his smaller chassis with this own. Hound made a noise of protest. "Don't stop."

"Primus, Hound. Do you know how much I want you right now?" Thundercracker panted.

"If it's as much as I need you now, then I don't know why you aren't interfacing my CPU out of my head right now." Hound rubbed himself wantonly on Thundercracker's thigh, making the Decepticon growl at him.

"Stop it."

"I _need_ you, Thundercracker." Hound's hand reached back over one shoulder to stroke a wing and the seeker moaned, optics shuttering as pleasure curled through him.

"_Hound_… Slag! I mean it… We're too…urgh… too exposed… out here."

The scout stopped abruptly and Thundercracker managed to open his optics to find Hound smiling at him. "I know a place."

"Show me." Thundercracker reluctantly let the other mech go. Hound turned away into the trees and the seeker followed, optics drifting down the frame in front of him to the aft suddenly presented to him. "You better make it quick…" he growled softly.

Hound shimmied his hips briefly and laughed knowingly when Thundercracker whined desperately, darting out of the grasping hands. Luckily for both mechs it wasn't far, and they soon reached the secluded spot. Hound pointed out the cliff overhang, buried behind trailing vines and softened with moss. It was easily big enough for both of them to stand inside, but neither cared. Hound barely had time to react when Thundercracker tumbled him to the floor, kneeling over him to stare down at him possessively. Hound felt a little shudder run through his frame as those red optics seemed to burn through him. The seeker saw and dived down for another kiss.

Hound ran his hands up the back of the intakes that rose from Thundercracker's shoulders, the roughened metal lightly abrading the grey surface and the seeker hissed into the kiss. Hound moved the fingers on one hand to the expanse of wing above him and Thundercracker faltered, stilling completely. Hound took advantage and ran his fingers across what metal of the wing he could touch from his prone position.

"Primus…" Thundercracker sagged down against Hound, optics flickering as pleasure seared through his body from the points of pressure that were Hound's fingertips.

Hound smiled and gently kissed the audio receptor that was now within reach. The seeker made a low noise in the back of his vocal processor and his hands suddenly came to life. Hound gasped and arched into the hand that played across one headlight, making Thundercracker press his fingers into the glass a little more. The other hand ran over the grill front, winch and across Hound's bumper, light and teasing.

The scout made a low noise in the back of his vocaliser. "Har…harder, please."

Thundercracker willingly obliged, digging his fingers into the gap under Hound's bumper, causing the scout to hiss, arching his back more and tightening his own grip. One hand left small impressions in the thin metal of the seekers wing whilst the other gripped Thundercracker's aft, hauling him in closer. A flare of pain shot through the seeker from his wing, but it blended headily with the pleasure as Thundercracker liked a little pain anyway.

The seeker explored the differences on Hound's frame, finding enjoyment in seeking out the little spots that made him gasp and moan. Thundercracker had been brought up around seekers and had lived by the unspoken rule that flyers didn't interface with groundies. Right at that moment Thundercracker couldn't for the life of him remember why, because the mech beneath him was doing things to his CPU and his chassis that made him long for more. Hound clearly had a little knowledge of jet physiology because his fingers were finding all the right places; his wings, his intakes, his cockpit and turbines.

"Oh, Primus," Hound swore between gritted denta. "I'm gonna…"

Thundercracker's hand curled around one wheel as Hound shuttered his optics, throwing his head back. The scout's blunt, rough fingers scraped down his wing and cockpit and suddenly the warnings that had been flashing across the seekers HUD screamed at him as his overload hit. He could hear the other mech grunt his name out through his own overload.

Thundercracker sagged against Hound for a moment whilst his processor sorted itself out, remembering which way was up, before he rolled off to one side to lie on his back next to Hound. Both of them stared up at the rock ceiling, panting in an attempt to cool their systems.

"Slag, that was good," the seeker announced.

Hound chuckled. "It's been too long since I last did that."

"Me too," Thundercracker agreed before frowning. "Where did that come from?"

Hound froze momentarily, unsure of what to say, but decided the truth, however it came out, was worth trying. "I guess it's been building for awhile, since the cave."

"Before that," the other mech murmured. "The gifts. I think that must have been when I started wanting to spend more time with you than the rest of the Decepticons."

"Really?"

The seeker refused to move his optics from the ceiling. "I had a lot of time to think over these past few days."

"Me too." Hound sat up slightly, glancing down the chassis laid out next to him. His systems responded, the heat that had never really faded building back up again, as he remembered all those touches from just a few moments before. Thundercracker looked up at him as he felt his energy field spike and pulse. The green mech met his optics and asked, "Why are we talking?"

The red optics darkened as the blue mech gave him a predatory smile.

"I'm going to be late for my shift," Hound muttered, but he had a smile on his face so Thundercracker knew it wasn't a rebuff, which was just as well because he wasn't stopping any time soon.

--

Three miles away and still running towards the Ark at top speed, Mirage was attempting to work out what in world he'd just seen. He'd gotten an answer to his question of why Hound was skipping out so often, but the answer was so _unbelievable_, he was having trouble processing it. It had been so hard for him to understand, despite what he'd said to Hound on the ledge, that Mirage hadn't left straight away. The sniper had activated his cloaking device when he'd been out of sight from the ledge and then snuck back around to a different vantage point.

Hound and Thundercracker had been talking in quiet voices, the seeker holding one of scout's hands to stop him stepping away. At that point Mirage had been worried for Hound, thinking maybe, Thundercracker was forcing him to do something he didn't want to, but then the seeker's hand was cradling the side of Hound's face. The invisible mech felt his optics widen and mouth drop open when Thundercracker _kissed_ Hound. Not only that but his friend returned the gesture willingly.

It had all got a bit heated then and Mirage had fled, feeling a little bit like a voyeur and very confused. He had no inkling that his closest friend had feelings for a Decepticon. Friends! Friends didn't do that! Hound was a friendly mech - he could make friends with anyone, even a Decepticon apparently - but he never thought he'd see the day Hound would go down the _romantic_ road with one of them. Not after all they'd done!

He was still travelling so fast he nearly bowled Jazz over as he came out of the Ark. He skidded to a halt to catch the saboteur's elbow before he finished toppling over and uncloaked.

"Sorry."

"It's ok." Jazz waved the apology away. "Jus' caught meh by surprise. What's up with travelin' so fast anyways?"

Mirage stared at the black and white mech before babbling, "It can't be happening! I must be going insane or seeing things! Yes, right, my optics are malfunctioning, that's it! I've got to see Ratchet right away because I never want to see that again. I'm never going to forget…."

"Whoa! Slow down, Mirage!" Jazz held up his hands. "What are ya talkin' 'bout?"

The sniper visibly halted his words before he managed to blurt out, "Hound and… and…"

Jazz frowned as the blue and white mech stuttered and took a guess. "Thundercracker?"

"How did you know?" Mirage exclaimed loudly.

"Turn it down," Jazz warned him. "Jus' been addin' things up since we last talked. So it _is_ Thundercracker then. What were they doin'?"

"They were… and… it…but…"

"Mirage," Jazz stopped him. "Start at the beginnin', k'?"

The sniper took a deep breath. "I saw Hound slip outside again and I followed him. I'd been meaning to ask him about something anyway, so I thought I'd kill two turbo-foxes with one shot. I lost him in the woods for a bit and by the time I found him…"

"Out on a ledge?" Jazz interrupted.

"Yeah." Mirage shot him a confused look, but kept going. "I stepped out of the trees and he was standing there with _Thundercracker_! Hound told me they were friends, that there was nothing bad going on."

"Ya believe him?"

Mirage nodded. "Yeah, he wouldn't lie to me…"

"Ya sure?" Jazz heard the hesitation.

"Well, I left but I wanted to make sure Hound was ok. He's my friend and it didn't feel right leaving alone with a Decepticon like that. I circled back around to get a better view and they were talking…"

"'N?" Jazz tilted his head.

"I…" Mirage shook his head. "I shouldn't tell you. I know no one asked me not to tell or anything, but he's still my friend and I won't tell you every little detail of his private life."

Jazz considered this for a moment. "I understand, but if it's crucial for security, ya have t'. Ya know that."

Mirage dropped his optics to the floor. "I don't know. Let me think about it." Jazz nodded before Mirage frowned and raised his head again. "What are you going to do?"

Jazz met Mirage's gaze steadily. "What needs t' be done."

Mirage looked away as he nodded, before he turned quietly and headed into the Ark, his cloak coming back up as he did so. Jazz watched him go, or rather listened to the fading footsteps. It was a very good question. What was he going to do? He _should_ report this now. There was enough proof to warrant calling Hound in for a meeting and enough to convict him if they thought he really was slipping the Decepticons information. There was something else going on. Mirage hadn't told him everything, but what happened if it turned out Hound and Thundercracker were just friends?

Jazz had already taken a look at the rules regarding inter-faction relationships. They weren't banned, unless of course they hindered the war effort in some way. Thundercracker had repaired Hound, had willingly helped the Autobots, so there wasn't anything negative there. The saboteur groaned and buried his face in one hand. Why was he left with these decisions?

The third in command had been on his way out to see if he could track Hound down again, and he wondered if he still should try. Granted he had Mirage as a key witness, but the sniper had been hiding something and Jazz guessed he might find it if he went out looking. He knew he should, that was part of his job, but another, larger part didn't want to intrude on something private. They all lived so close together, on top of one another in the Ark, that privacy wasn't all that easy to obtain, and Jazz understood the need for it.

'_Prowl to Jazz.'_

Jazz shook his head to clear his thoughts before he answered his comms. _'Jazz here.'_

'_Have you seen Hound? He's late for his shift.'_

Jazz raised one optic ridge. This was new. _'Nah Prowl, but I got a fair idea o' where he might be. He probably jus' got distracted.'_

'_He's not answering his comms. It's not like him to be late and ignore communications.'_

It really wasn't. Jazz let a smile curve his lips briefly. He must be really distracted. _'I'll go get 'im. I'm off duty anyways.'_

'_Thank you Jazz. Would you also give him a warning I don't want this happening again?'_

'_O' course. See ya round.'_

'_Prowl out.'_

The black and white mech transformed and headed out to where he suspected Hound to be. It took him a while to cross the ground and he made sure not to be quiet this time. He wanted to see just what Hound and Thundercracker would do if they heard him coming. As he closed in on the ledge he transformed back to his robot form to walk through the trees, but stopped short when he heard a sound coming from the opposite direction.

"Hound?"

The green mech in question stumbled from the trees, a sheepish grin on his face, one hand brushing away foliage that had gotten caught around his rocket launcher. Jazz glanced at the ledge some distance away, in the opposite direction, and then back at Hound.

"I know, I'm late. I'm sorry." Hound tugged the vine free.

"Ya weren't answerin' comms neither," Jazz replied.

"Umm..." Hound shrugged his shoulders.

"Neva mind, Prowl said t' give ya a warnin' not t' do it again." Jazz jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the Ark.

"Warning noted," Hound nodded. "Thanks for not getting me into more trouble."

Jazz let the green mech go ahead of him and as he past by, the saboteur noted the scratches on his paintwork. Not unusual on Hound; he was normally covered in them, but they weren't usually blue. A blue, Jazz would bet his visor on, that perfectly matched that of a certain seeker's paintjob. The black and white mech swung his sensors around the forest, pushing them a bit further and discovered lingering traces of energy spikes a little way off.

Jazz was grateful his visor hid his expression. Energy spikes like that came from one of two reasons; a fight or interfacing. One glance at the unconsciously pleased way Hound carried himself ruled out the first one and almost confirmed the second one. Combined with the scratches and that Hound was late for his shift, something he never did, made Jazz shake his head. It would certainly explain Mirage's reaction and the fact that he didn't want to tell on his friend.

The realisation left Jazz with a choice, one that he was now going to base off what Hound said next. The saboteur sped up his pace a little until he was walking alongside Hound. "Ya might wanna talk t' Mirage."

The green scout nearly tripped over a tree root and got a branch in the face for his troubles. "Why?"

"He jus' seemed a little off when I saw him last," Jazz shrugged. "Don't think it'll help 'im t' see ya with blue scratches all over ya like that though."

Hound rapidly glanced down. "Oh_ slag_."

"Do ya think green will get 'im into trouble?" Jazz kept his expression neutral.

"Primus." Hound covered his face with his hand. "I hope he's noticed." He paused, rubbing at one mark across his bumper before asking, "What are you going to do?"

"Let's see." Jazz held up a hand and started ticking off points on it. "Until today ya hadn't let this affect ya work, but mechs were noticing ya disappearances. Yer regularly meetin' up with the enemy, but that enemy seems t' be willing t' help ya out. Ya seem happy, or am I wrong?" Hound shook his head mutely. "Now unless ya thinkin' of switchin' sides or betrayin' us…"

"I'd _never_ do that!" Hound interrupted, hurt and angry by the mere idea.

"Think o' it from ma perspective, Hound. Ya didn't tell anyone, for good reasons, that I understand, but if ya had come t' me, I wouldn't have t' be considerin' reportin' ya."

Hound kicked a rock. "I know, but it wasn't like we meant to develop a friendship. It just, kind of, grew on us without us noticing."

"Forgive me fer bein' blunt, but ya don't get scratches like that from friends," Jazz snorted.

"Yeah." Hound glanced down at himself again. "That kinda sprang on us too."

They both fell silent for a moment before Jazz spoke up softly, "I won't tell anyone unless summat happens. Optimus should know, but he's got enough t' deal with without this."

"Prowl?"

Jazz snickered. "It'd freeze his CPU. I'll save 'im the trip t' Ratchet."

"Thank you, Jazz." Hound spoke softly, knowing he could be facing a lot of problems instead of understanding.

"Jus' be grateful it was Mirage that found out," Jazz warned him. "The others might not understand." As Hound nodded again, Jazz added, "N' pray t' Primus the Cons never find out."

Hound couldn't help glance but glance skywards at that. He really hoped Thundercracker had noticed the scratches before someone else did or could come up with a decent excuse. He shouldn't have worried. Thundercracker didn't have quite as many obvious marks, bar the hand print on one wing, but _that_ he could blame on Megatron from the previous fight. The seeker had stuff stashed in his room he could use to work the dents out with because every Decepticon learnt very early on how to deal with minor damage themselves.

Thrust wasn't on duty when Thundercracker requested entry to the Nemesis and Wildrider let him in without comment. The blue seeker headed straight for his room, passing a few mechs on the way, all of whom just glanced at him. Standard greeting. He opened his door to find Skywarp sitting on his berth and raised one optic ridge. Security and doors meant nothing to a mech that could teleport. Skywarp stared right back at him and Thundercracker stepped into the room. It was his room after all.

"Move over," Thundercracker gestured.

The purple seeker slid down the berth so Thundercracker could grab what he needed from the shelf beyond him. Once he'd dug the buffer out of its box the blue seeker sat down and started work. Skywarp was silent for all of a minute before he spoke up. "What happened?"

"Just left overs from Megatron," Thundercracker muttered.

"No they're not," his friend returned steadily, and Thundercracker looked up. "I saw you before you left." He poked the blue wing and then a long scratch down the glass cockpit. "These weren't there."

The blue seeker scowled, annoyed that Skywarp hadn't fallen for it, but it wouldn't hurt to make up a story that sounded more plausible. "Autobot."

The purple seeker's optics lit up a little. "Who?"

"Who do you think?" Thundercracker snorted.

"Jet Judo?"

"I wasn't about to land for him."

It was quite common for one or two of them to tangle with the enemy when they were out on patrol and not report it, unless they were badly damaged. It seemed to be a game of one-up-manship with the seekers and the twins. Skywarp pulled a face. "Did you get him?"

"Nah, about the same." Thundercracker shrugged one shoulder.

"C'mere." Skywarp grabbed the buffer out of his hands and twirled one finger around. "You've got some on your back."

Thundercracker smiled slightly, turning for Skywarp. This reminded him of the early days when they use to patch each other up after a fight, and it felt good to have this moment again with Skywarp. He waited until the other seeker had set to work. "What's changed?"

"I can't stay mad at you. Too much work and you know me, gotta take the easy route," Skywarp replied easily. "Hey, TC?"

"What?"

"Which of the Twins got a repaint? These scratches are green."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6  
Notes:** I have to thank you guys for being so patient with me. This chapter was being a right aft-head in some places, other places... ahem not so much! That and I've been away at a Transformers Convention!! I also really have to thank all my reviewers, you've sparked off some interesting ideas, some of which threw me completely off what I'd planned to do!!  
Oh and if you want to see a picture someone I love to pieces (glomp) drew me for the last chapter of this, then you'll find the link on my profile page. It's just SO right for that moment, and very drool worthy!  
I suppose I should warn you that this chapter has full blown mech-on-mech action in it. What? They demanded it!!

-

Thundercracker glanced down the corridor as he watched Skywarp away in the opposite direction before he let out a relieved sigh. It had been a close call. He'd called Skywarp colour blind, saying the scratches couldn't be green. That was ridiculous. Neither of the twin Autobot frontliners would change their colour. It had dissolved into good-natured bickering before the pair of seekers had to leave for their duties. Skywarp was on stock check, something he only hated marginally less than monitor duty, which was Thundercracker's responsibility today.

The blue seeker settled himself down in front of the bank of screens, idly checking them all. The lazy, sated feeling from the multiple interfaces with Hound still lingered in his systems and memories. That and he was starting to mend his friendship with Skywarp. Thundercracker felt too good to let anyone or anything bother him today. Looking around at all his compatriots he knew most of them wouldn't have had such an experience recently and if he could have bragged about it, the seeker would have been doing so loudly. Frag the fact that Hound was a groundie and the other flyers would sneer at him. _They_ hadn't felt what the green mech could do.

Time on the monitors passed remarkably quickly, though Thundercracker couldn't have said he was really paying them much attention. He was too busy considering what he could do to Hound next time he saw him. Unfortunately he kept having to reign his thoughts in when he started noticeably heating up. That would have drawn too much attention. No one got worked up by staring at monitors. Well no one he knew, but you never could tell with Soundwave.

Speak of the mech. Thundercracker glanced across at the dark blue mech as he entered the room, heading to a console on the opposite side of the room without a word. The seeker grunted, settling back into his chair again, ignoring his companion. He hadn't meant for his thoughts to head back to where they'd been most of the day, but he couldn't help it. The seeker was just reliving a particularly vivid memory that included one of his intakes and Hound's glossa when a loud thud startled him out of his thoughts. He glanced around to find Soundwave standing stock still, one hand pressed to his head where he'd clearly slapped it.

"Thought pattern: Unwanted. Refrain." Soundwave spoke smoothly, though his stiff posture hadn't changed.

Thundercracker's optics widened. Oh _slag_. There wasn't a lie he could think of to cover thoughts that should have been totally and utterly private. Well that served Soundwave for snooping!

"Teach you to go listening in then," Thundercracker muttered.

Soundwave dropped his hand and shook his head before he went back to whatever he was doing with the console. The seeker shrugged. Soundwave's comments from their last meeting had given Thundercracker the impression the third in command wasn't going to tell on him and had even been encouraging him to seek a relationship with Hound. Why, Thundercracker hadn't got a clue, but he wasn't about to question his luck on this one.

"Pleased: Advice taken," Soundwave abruptly said.

"Oh shut up," Thundercracker growled. "It had nothing to do with your _advice_ and anyway, why in Primus' name are you _encouraging_ this?" He shouldn't be questioning his luck, but it was just too annoying, not knowing.

The darker mech turned to look at him. "Troop morale: Vital. Your moral: Previously low."

"So you think me fragging around with…" Thundercracker stopped before he said anything incriminating out loud. "You think that's a good thing?"

Soundwave shrugged. "Moral: Improved. Methods: Unwanted but working."

"Anything's better than nothing huh?" Thundercracker stabbed a button on his console, watching Frenzy and Rumble sneak through a cargo bay. "Your twin pests might improve moral with whatever they're about to do, but Megatron will have them for scrap if they touch the weapons grade energon."

Soundwave focused on the screen and then tilted his head slightly. The seeker watched both cassettes jump in surprise and then scowl in the direction of the camera. "Prank: Adverted," Soundwave intoned.

"Then no one needs to know."

Soundwave nodded once before turning back to whatever he'd been doing before. Thundercracker settled back down to finish his shift. As he did so he realised his life wasn't all that bad at the moment. His friendship with Skywarp was back on the mend and he had truly had something to look forward to when he was off shift and out of the Nemesis. Thundercracker had always looked forward to his meetings with Hound, but not quite with this much zeal and expectation.

-

It wasn't that Hound didn't look forward to seeing Thundercracker again, he couldn't wait, but right at that moment he was wishing the ground would just swallow him whole. Not only had he had to hide his variety of scratches from everyone, but now he was in the middle of a really awkward conversation that he was pretty sure neither one of them wanted to have.

"Hound, it's not that I don't trust you," Mirage held out his hands. "But I just want to understand."

"It just happened," Hound said, again. "I can't really explain it better than that. We just got talking and we kept meeting up because we _liked_ talking."

"But what do you two have in common?" the sniper asked, still struggling to understand.

"Not a lot," Hound admitted. "About as much as we did when we first met, but that didn't stop us talking."

"No," Mirage agreed, CPU working furiously, trying to not judge his closest friend. "But we never…"

"Never what?" Hound frowned.

"You know," Mirage gestured between them. "Went further than that. We'd never consider it."

The green mech realised what the other was skirting around and went from confused to highly embarrassed in an astrosecond. "You saw… us…"

Mirage stared at the ground, just as uncomfortable. "I went back, after I left. I didn't feel right leaving you alone with a Decepticon and I saw him…" The blue and white mech met Hound's optics. "You didn't seem to object."

"Mirage," Hound started before he stopped, drawing himself together. Ok, so Jazz _and_ Mirage knew about what he'd done with Thundercracker and neither of them had told anyone, as far as he could tell. They trusted him to make the right decisions and the least he could do was to explain to his vorns-old friend why. "Before that we were just friends. Something sparked off that last time and no, I didn't object, because I wanted it. I hadn't gone looking for it, Mirage. Believe me, Thundercracker was the last place I expected to find anything, but when he touched me it felt so right." Hound studied his friend. "Do you understand?"

"I understand that," Mirage nodded. "Even if I still don't get what you see in him."

Hound shrugged. "I'm not going to deny he's attractive. I'm just more thrown that he'd want me. I'm not exactly _his_ type."

"Hound, you're not ugly," Mirage admonished.

"No, but Seekers aren't suppose to like ground-based mechs."

Mirage couldn't argue with that. Seekers had been part of his society before the war had broken out and they had always stayed together, like those mechs that couldn't fly were beneath them somehow. He would have never considered one of them turning from his own sort to willing be with a ground based mech, not then and certainly not now, but it was happening.

The sniper studied his friend, trying to put aside his own prejudice for the moment, and had to admit Hound had seemed happier these past few months. He had always seemed cheerful and willing; not that he hadn't before, but his introspective periods of quiet he usually went through seemed to have vanished. If this was an Autobot, a mech within their own base, how would he react? He would ask questions that only a real friend would ask.

"So, are you going back out to see him later then?"

Hound nodded. "Our schedules don't always work out but, yeah, when I can."

"You going to come back with new scratches then?" Mirage smiled. "Maybe you should take some of your own paint with you to touch up before you get back to the Ark?"

Hound stared at Mirage, unsure whether he should be embarrassed or not, but he did want to confide in his closest friend. "That might be a good idea."

"He must be good for you to let him mark you up like that," Mirage chuckled.

"Frag, yes!" Hound beamed back. "And it was just touching. We've not gone any further yet."

"That might be a little too much information there," Mirage shook his head good naturedly.

Hound laid a hand on Mirage's arm, making his friend look up at him questioningly. "Thank you Mirage. This means a lot to me."

"What are friends for?" Mirage nodded. "Now get lost, you."

Hound's smile grew before he ducked out of Mirage's quarters and down the corridor. The sniper watched the door shut behind him before rubbing his face with one hand. He had meant all he had said to Hound and he did understand why Hound was pursuing this… relationship with Thundercracker. Mirage wasn't immune to the desire to want someone to hold him and touch him like that, especially with all the death and destruction laid out around them. It was just the sheer surprise that one of the most loyal, steadfast Autobots he knew would even consider it. Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised because Hound was simply that kind, but it still left him struggling. Maybe the seeker was just that good.

The sniper felt his optics widen. _Slag_, no, he hadn't just thought that. Oh Primus now he was considering what it would feel like to be Hound. He so needed to get out and burn off some energy if that were the case, just not with a seeker, thank you very much. Great now he couldn't get that thought out of his processors. That was one thing he didn't want to be contemplating, what Hound was doing with Thundercracker and would be doing for the next few hours….

-

"I have a port you know," Hound mentioned, almost conversationally, voice wavering a little as Thundercracker's finger's ghosted over one wheel.

"What?" the seeker paused, optics meeting his. "You're inviting me to jack in?"

Hound smiled. "Actually, I'm surprised you haven't already. I would have thought that would have been more your way."

"I didn't want to rush this." Thundercracker ducked his head slightly, embarrassed to say it.

"You've got no objections from me."

Thundercracker seem to digest that information before his hand moved up Hound's leg, caressing the length of it, until he reached the apex of his thighs. There his fingers danced over the metal.

"Here?"

Hound let his head thud back onto the floor, shuddering and spreading his legs more to give Thundercracker more access as he slid back the port cover. He hadn't used his port in ages, mostly because any interfacing he done had purely been about touching and he really hadn't interfaced in a long time. When he felt fingers touch the edge of it the sensations made him cry out, keening in need and pleasure. He'd forgotten how good it felt to let someone touch him there.

Thundercracker was fascinated by the port and a little awed that Hound would let him be so intimate with him. The seeker noticed it was on the small side and knew it would be a snug fit with his interface cable. That might hurt Hound.

"I might be too big." Thundercracker sat up on his heels.

Hound fought his way out of the haze in his CPU and lifted himself up to meet the other mech's optics. "Modest, aren't we?"

Thundercracker slapped his leg. "Your port just looks a little small, that's all, and I don't want to hurt you."

"Well we won't know unless we try, will we?" Hound smiled at the care the Decepticon was showing and had to tease him a little. "And anyway, I'm built to be tough; I reckon I can take all you've got to offer."

Thundercracker growled, hands going to his own body to pull out his interface cable. Hound let his optics drift over it and shuddered in appreciation, knowing where that was going and just how good it would feel. The seeker saw the willingness in the mech spread out before him and felt a surge in his systems. He leaned down over Hound and caught his lips up in a searing kiss. Black hands clung to his upper arms as he traced the edge of the port before lining himself up. He had been right, it was a tight fit, but the scraping of metal made Thundercracker hiss in pleasure, optics squeezing shut as he pushed in and up-linked to Hound.

The green mech beneath him made a small noise in both protest and pleasure, back bowing, head thrown back. There was an audible click as the connection was made, and then Thundercracker was flooding Hound with sensory data, making him feel everything that the seeker was feeling. The scout had never realised how sensitive those wings were all the time, how much he could feel the play of the air over them and he had to reach up to run fingers over their surface, just to see. Both mechs sucked in a breath at the same moment and Thundercracker retaliated by dragging his glossa down Hound's neck and over his chest to one headlight.

"...uhh..."

"I'm gonna make you scream," Thundercracker hissed, hands tightening on Hound's hip plates, holding him in close.

"Before or ….or after yo…you do?" Hound panted back, trying to remember how to make his hands work to touch the blue metal spread out above him. Jacking in just made interfacing twice as intense as you could feel everything you did to your partner and then sense them experience it as well. Endless feedback that ramped up the sensations.

Thundercracker moaned as Hound forcefully handled his intakes, biting down on one leading edge. It hadn't taken the Autobot long to figure out he liked it a little rough and he didn't seem afraid to be just that either. Hound seemed to like whatever Thundercracker had done to him so far and every little noise he made just drove the seeker a little bit further towards his overload. He knew the scout had discovered just how responsive his wings were but he'd worked out that Hound's sensitive sensors did just the same for him.

Heat was building fast, caught up between the two moving bodies and energy was now bleeding over between them. Both mechs lost track of everything but the feel of each other and the sensations passing between them. Thundercracker lost it first this time, burying his face into Hound's shoulder as he cried out. The burst of pleasure data flooded through Hound and instantly his own overload hit. He screamed for his seeker, just as Thundercracker had promised, before there was a moment of silence, only broken by their whirring systems and panting intakes.

"Primus Hound," Thundercracker muttered from where he was slumped, head resting on the green shoulder. "I'd forgotten how good that could feel."

"Me too," Hound agreed, staring up at the rock ceiling above them, happy to take the seeker's weight until he recovered himself. Occasionally data would transmit over their link, sending a little tingle through Hound's port, keeping him aware they were still joined. Thundercracker pushed his upper body up until he was an arm's length away, lower bodies unmoved, where he grinned at Hound.

"You look good with blue on you."

Hound glanced down at his chest. Streaks of vivid blue were scraped all down his front, especially on his bumper. Matching slashes of green covered Thundercracker's front, clearly visible against the glass of his cockpit and Hound had to admit the sight gave him a deeply pleasant feeling inside. What had just happened was made all the more real. Thundercracker sat up a little more, stretching their connection but not breaking it yet, optics drifting over Hound's chassis until he reached Hound's hips.

"Frag, Hound you should have said!"

"What?" the green mech sat up a little. Thundercracker pointed to the finger impressions he'd left on both sides of Hound's hip plates. He vaguely remembered the seeker grabbing him that hard, but it had been lost in the pleasure. "It's alright. We didn't do anything I didn't thoroughly enjoy and they'll come out easy enough."

Thundercracker looked slightly mollified by that and reached to disconnect them, pulling his cable free. Hound winced a little as it scraped the inside of his port. It was a tight fit and Thundercracker wasn't the gentlest of berth mates. The seeker froze, though, when he was free and the scout sat up further, worried at his sudden silence. His optics took in the streaks of energon over Thundercracker's interface cable and realised that must have come from his port. Internal sensors told him the damage was already repairing and that no serious damage had been sustained.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Thundercracker asked, clearly shocked.

"It didn't hurt at the time," Hound smiled gently, hand covering one of Thundercracker's. "But I guess I kinda got caught up in the moment. It's already mostly repaired, so don't worry."

"Let me see." The seeker pushed Hound back down again with one hand on his bumper. Hound complied, touched that the seeker cared that much and then bit back a moan when Thundercracker's fingers touched the edge of his port before delving inside slightly. The seeker seemed intent on searching every inch of the port and Hound couldn't help arching into the fingers.

"Hope you're going to finish what you start!" Hound gasped, systems revving up again, needing little encouragement.

Thundercracker appeared over him, red optics intense, fingers still moving inside him. Keening quietly Hound shifted closer to the source of the pleasure, not caring that he looked needy and vulnerable. The seeker didn't let up and it didn't take long for another overload to crash through the scout's system, making everything black out for a brief moment.

"You're so responsive," hissed a voice in one audio and Hound struggled to turn his optics on or make his vocal components work.

"I think you could do anything to me and I wouldn't say no," Hound murmured, optics meeting Thundercracker's.

"So I could tie you up and have my wicked Decepticon way with you then." Hound shivered at the image Thundercracker conjured. "Slag I didn't know you were that kinky," Thundercracker grinned.

"Has to be your evil Decepticon ways rubbing off on me," Hound replied, an answering smile spreading across his face.

"I'll rub all you like, if you'll let me do that."

"I'll see if I can find some cuffs for you then," Hound's optics sparkled.

Thundercracker studied him for a moment. "You're having me on, aren't you?"

"We'll see."

The blue seeker smiled softly, wondering how he'd ever got so lucky and pressed his lips tenderly to the other mech's. Perhaps it shouldn't be in his nature to be caring but here, at this moment, with this mech, what else was he supposed to do? Thundercracker didn't realise it yet but he had sealed his own fate by being here with Hound. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in the next few months, but eventually, this decision would take them into the future on a different road than they'd ever intended to travel.

-

"Ratchet, you busy?" Hound asked, from just inside the medbay doors, trying to gauge the medic's temperament.

"Just doing inventory," the CMO replied, setting down the data pad in his hand. "What can I do for you?"

"I just need a few dents taking out." Hound came a little further into the room, apprehension clear.

Ratchet glanced over the scout, noting the mud splattered over his frame. That wasn't unusual, but Hound normally cleaned up when he came back to the Ark, before doing anything else.

"It would help if you were clean."

"Yeah." Hound glanced down at himself. "I just didn't want the others to see. You know what the rumour mill is like round here."

Ratchet arched an optic ridge. "Where exactly are these dents?"

Hound scraped the mud from his hips plates, the dried dirt flaking off easily, and the medic could see the clear finger imprints on both sides of the scout's black hip plates. He'd seen enough of them, though not recently, to know precisely how Hound had come by them and understood what the green mech had meant by rumour.

"Those are easy enough to deal with," Ratchet nodded, gesturing for Hound to get on the berth. "Though, judging from those marks, I should ask you to be more careful in future."

Hound looked away but answered, embarrassment colouring his voice. "We didn't do anything I didn't like."

"As long as he's not taking advantage." Ratchet collected the tool he needed, reprimand in his voice. "I take it you told him about your port." Hound nodded and Ratchet shook his head. "You know you're not built to take too many repeat interfaces in a short period of time."

"There isn't always energon, just when we get carried away," Hound argued.

"Hound! Any energon is bad!" Ratchet rapped the scout on the leg with the tool.

The other mech looked up then. "Are you telling me I can't do something I enjoy doing?"

Ratchet hesitated before sighing and shaking his head. "No, enjoyment is in short enough supply as it is. Just be careful, alright?"

"We are," Hound nodded.

The medic started easing the dents out of the metal on Hound's hips and he'd finished one side before the scout spoke up again. "Ratchet, do you still have those low level stasis cuffs?"

The CMO shot upright. "How the slag do you know about those?"

Hound grinned. "I've heard things."

Ratchet narrowed his optics. "And just what do you want with those?"

"Payback."

"I don't want to know." Ratchet firmly shook his head. "I am so glad I don't know who you're interfacing with and I don't want to. So I don't want to see anyone else in here with matching marks."

"You won't," Hound shook his head. "I can promise you that, especially if you give me those cuffs."

Ratchet glared at him but Hound grinned back at him. He knew what would happen if he took the cuffs back with him and the mere thought made him smile in anticipation. The medic growled, finished his work and propelled Hound out of his medical bay.

"What about…?" Hound started, but was cut off when a pair of stasis cuffs hit him in the face and the doors slid shut.

Ratchet threw a wrench at the closed door before he could stop himself. It made him feel better. He wasn't sure why he was feeling quite so annoyed. Perhaps he was just getting old, though he wasn't as old as Ironhide, and he was a little jealous. Not only had Hound found someone to get close to, _really_ close to, but they were keeping quiet about it. Around the Ark it wasn't long until someone's private business was everyone's public knowledge and to be with a mech in peace was something to be treasured.

A sudden thought occurred to Ratchet as he bent to pick up his thrown tool. That little thought about keeping quiet. No one had owned up to repairing Hound when he had been injured in the last battle and now Ratchet was staring at the new facts, he would bet his favourite welding arc on the fact the two mechs were one and the same. The CMO grinned. He didn't need Jazz looking into this for him. Everything was falling into place by itself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7  
Notes:** I still love all you guys for reading this and thanks for being patient with me. I recently just got a job, then someone has asked me to do artwork for a TF comic (eeee) and then Hound and Thundercracker found another bunny to play with. I dragged them back and pointed out you couldn't go play with a new one til the old one was finished!

-

The light blue Seeker turned on a wing tip to avoid fire from the ground, banking back out of range towards his own side of the battle. His path took him back over rough, low hills that neither side had much interest in claiming in this fight as they were worth nothing. Something flashed in the midst of the brown scrub, giving the Seeker pause for thought and he turned to investigate it, directing himself towards a deeper gash in the landscape.

Thundercracker transformed and dropped lightly down onto the ground. He tilted his head to one side, listening. Something had brought him up short, some noise that was out of place. A cackle of laughter drifted up from the canyon ahead of him and he recognised it as Astrotrain's. Maybe that wasn't out of place in a battle going the Decepticon's way, but something nagged at Thundercracker so he headed in the canyon to find out what was going on.

He rounded a corner, disappearing from the sight of the battle on the plain, and came across Skywarp, Starscream and Astrotrain standing in a loose group around someone. Thundercracker marched up to them, and as he drew level his whole world turned upside down. With his back to the rock wall stood Hound, one hand holding the side of his torn chest where energon leaked out between his fingers. His gun and launcher were nowhere in sight and there was a look of desperation in his optics.

"Hey Thundercracker," Skywarp greeted him amicably. "Wondered where you'd got to. Look what we caught."

"So I see." Thundercracker met Hound's optics, wondering whether the Autobot could read the torn emotions in them. He didn't know how he kept his own voice level.

"We were just trying to decide," Skywarp gestured at Hound. "Have a little fun ourselves or take him back to Megatron?"

"No!" Starscream snapped. "Megatron's not getting my prisoner!"

"Your prisoner?" Astrotrain asked coldly. "Who took out his weapons? I did."

Thundercracker listened to them argue, thinking rapidly. How could he get Hound out of this situation without revealing anything about their relationship? He knew for a fact he couldn't bear it if Hound was terminated, but hadn't a clue how far he would go in defence of his lover. The Seeker was almost positive Hound would never say a thing that would put Thundercracker in an awkward position, even if it would save his own life. He had to get rid of the other Decepticons, and fast, if the amount of energon trickling down the green chassis was any indication.

"It's real brave of you," Thundercracker commented suddenly.

"What?" Starscream rounded on him.

"One injured Autobot, with no weapons, three... sorry, four of us."

The other three Decepticons scowled as Thundercracker's words hit home, and if Decepticons were as predictable as their faction symbol was purple, one thing they couldn't stand was a slur on their bravery.

"Well then, everyone else can watch while I deactivate him!" Starscream raised his null ray.

"Like frag I will!" Astrotrain barked, own weapon rising.

"I'm your superior officer!" Starscream shrieked. "You will obey me!"

As they descended into a loud shouting match Thundercracker nudged Skywarp. "I'd leave before they start on us."

"Good idea," Skywarp nodded and abruptly disappeared as he teleported away.

"Where'd Skywarp go?" Astrotrain interrupted Starscream.

"Said something about finding someone better to kill," Thundercracker shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly.

"Not without me!" The Air Commander transformed and roared away across the sky. It didn't take long for Astrotrain to follow him, which left a relieved Thundercracker alone with Hound, who slid down the wall the instant they were truly alone. The blue Seeker hurried to his side, pulling him upright.

"Here, let me see." He pulled the scout's hand from his chest. Energon spurted out across the yellow glass of the Seeker's cockpit and Hound made a small noise of pain, optics shuttering as he jerked his hand back to the wound. There was a deep tear from the top of his right shoulder all the way down and across one headlight.

"I need a medic."

"Where's yours, then?"

"Back of the plains, hidden by a bluff," Hound muttered, pressing his hand harder to his chest, head bowed as he struggled not to pass out on the Seeker.

"You still got enough power to make me a hologram?" Thundercracker asked, plan forming as he studied the sky.

"Don't know. Probably," Hound answered as he considered his internal levels. "Can't guarantee how long I can keep it up for."

"Well, try," Thundercracker responded dryly. "I don't want to get shot."

"Where you going?" Hound lifted his head to study the mech holding him.

"To your medic."

"He won't believe you." the green scout shook his head.

"With you."

"Oh."

"Hold on, ok?" Thundercracker slung one of Hound's arms around the back of his intakes before stooping to get one of his own arms under the back of Hound's knees. He hefted Hound off the ground, grunting a bit because Hound was no light weight, even if he was smaller than the Seeker. Hound clung on as best he could, wondering if he'd enjoy this unexpected flying trip or whether he'd just pass out first.

"Can you make it look like it's just me, in jet mode?"

Hound frowned for a moment and then nodded. "Done. Be quick."

"Quick as I can," Thundercracker replied, rising from the ground as he activated his boosters. He could feel the added weight of his passenger pulling him down and had to push more thrust through his turbines to keep them steady. Once he'd achieved level flight, the Decepticon set off across the sky, looping back over the mountains, rather than risk the straighter flight across the battle field. Thundercracker tried to keep low to risk his movement being spotted, by either side.

"Losing it," Hound gasped suddenly. "I can't…"

"Don't worry," Thundercracker reassured him. "We're here."

The Seeker had spotted a flash of white amongst the brown land and was heading towards it. Ratchet, for his part, was tending an unconscious Brawn and didn't miss the sound of Seeker jets heading his way so he drew his gun, putting himself between his patient and the incoming danger. Thundercracker dropped straight to the ground in front of him, just as Hound's hologram faded and Ratchet gaped at the pair of them in shock.

"What the frag is going on?"

"He needs attention," Thundercracker replied.

Ratchet blinked at him.

"He's leaking energon," Thundercracker tried again.

Ratchet seemed to shake himself, subspaced his weapon and hurried over to them. Hound obeyed orders to release his hand from his wound, only for it to squirt energon at Ratchet, who scowled and replaced his hand again.

"Put him down. I need to weld that leak."

Thundercracker obeyed the CMO's orders, gently lowering Hound down, until he was kneeling on the floor the other side of the scout to Ratchet. The medic got to work immediately, ignoring the anomalous Seeker, and Thundercracker suddenly felt really out of place. Hound caught his hand as he went to leave. "Thank you. You didn't have to do this."

"I did," Thundercracker met his optics. "They would have killed you and that I couldn't…." He glanced at Ratchet. "I couldn't take that."

Hound smiled brilliantly then, before it was lost to a wince and cry of pain. Thundercracker felt a stab of worry shoot through his spark and opened his mouth to ask what was happening. Ratchet beat him to it.

"He'll be fine. The shot tore up his shoulder but missed anything vital. Stop fussing."

"I… Right, well I better be off then…" The light blue mech didn't know what to say or do.

Hound nodded as Ratchet commented acidly, "Don't go bringing me any more mechs."

"Ratchet!" Hound admonished. "He saved my life."

The medic didn't look up from his work. "Yes, but now I know just who you've been interfacing with and will forever be scarred when I see those dents you bring me and ask me for cuffs."

Hound wisely shut up as Thundercracker gaped at the Autobot CMO.

"Shut your mouth. You'll catch a fly in it," Ratchet said dryly.

"How do you even know?" Thundercracker asked stupidly.

"I'm not slow in the processors," Ratchet glanced up then. "I know a relationship when I see one, especially one where an enemy soldier brings me a patient he should, by all rights, have terminated."

"Maybe I don't like an unfair fight," the Seeker muttered, scowling.

"Excuse me whilst I don't believe that from a 'Con."

Thundercracker lapsed into an uneasy silence, only punctuated by the sounds of battle raging not that far away. He was torn. He wanted to be there for Hound, even though he was surplus to requirement now, but Ratchet clearly didn't want him there and his life would be over if another Decepticon spotted him here.

"Go," Hound murmured softly, hand squeezing his.

"But I…"

"I know, but it's not safe for you to be here," Hound frowned anxiously. "Everyone would take a shot, especially if they see you near Ratchet."

Thundercracker cracked a wry smile. "Don't I know that. What is it about you guys and your medic? You always kick our afts if we go within mechanometer of him."

"Right here, you know," Ratchet griped.

Thundercracker nodded at Hound, wanting to do more, but couldn't bring himself to in front of Ratchet. Hound understood and let him go, watching Thundercracker stand, step back and then launch himself into the air, transforming as he did so. He didn't head straight back out into battle, but looped around the mountains again, disguising where he'd been.

"Oh my aching servos," Brawn suddenly moaned.

"It'll teach you to go running head long into trouble then," Ratchet told him sharply, still working on Hound.

Brawn shuffled across the floor to peer at the damaged scout. "What happened to you?"

"Astrotrain," Hound replied.

"How did you get away?"

Hound glanced sideways at the busy medic but Ratchet was keeping quiet so the green mech only said, "Luck I guess."

"Some luck," Brawn murmured, optics running over the sizable rent in Hound's armour.

"Ratchet!" a voice yelled.

"What?" Ratchet bellowed back, not even looking up.

"We're moving out." Wheeljack appeared in front of the group. "You good to… Whoa! Hound! You ok?"

"Been better," Hound replied, wincing as Ratchet prised some bent metal out of his shoulder.

"Jack, get your aft over here," Ratchet snapped. "Give Brawn a hand up. He'll be fine to drive back but he'll need someone watching him. I've got to seal off these leaks before I can move Hound."

"You want Skyfire?" Wheeljack asked, hauling the minibot to his feet.

"We're in that much of a hurry?" Ratchet grimaced as a cut energon line sprayed him in the face.

"Megatron is threatening to blow up the whole valley," Wheeljack answered, already opening up his comms to the big mech.

"Fine," Ratchet agreed, really not ready to stop working on the scout.

'_Wheeljack to Skyfire. Medic and patient pickup required.'_

'_On my way. The others are already retreating. I'm picking you all up, you're too far into the danger zone otherwise.'_

'_Roger.'_

A klik later the white jet had landed next to them. Wheeljack guided Brawn aboard before going back to help Ratchet pick Hound up and haul him aboard. They were barely secured before Skyfire was blasting off, quickly getting airborne and away from the battle sector. A few Seekers took a passing shot, but they weren't interested in taking on the bigger mech when he wasn't hanging around to be shot at.

They bypassed the other Autobots on the ground, but there was enough of them that they didn't need Skyfire's bigger presence and he was safe to fly straight back to the Ark with his passengers. Ratchet never stopped work the whole way there. Despite what he had said to Thundercracker, there was enough damage to the scout to worry him. Hound had passed out when Wheeljack and Ratchet had scooped him up and the CMO was grateful because now it meant he could be rougher with the green mech's outer plating, bending it back out the way to gain easier access to the ruptured lines inside. Astrotrain's shot had not only torn him open but blasted his launcher off his shoulder, tearing up a lot of delicate control circuitry.

Hound may have been smaller than a lot of other mechs, though not minibot size, but he was as tough as they came and for that Ratchet was grateful. A wound like this on, say, Mirage, would have been a lot more life threatening. The seriousness of the injury also helped distract Ratchet from the other new information in his CPU, that of Thundercracker and his fragging close relationship with Hound. No slagging wonder it had been quiet on the Ark about who Hound was interfacing with; no one knew and if they did, they sure as pit weren't telling anyone.

By the time they had reached the Ark, Ratchet had Hound stabilised enough that he let him out of his sight when First Aid and Swoop came to move him into med bay. It gave him chance to check Brawn over once more and clear him. He'd just suffered a CPU-jarring knock and would be fine in a few hours. The others weren't back yet, so Ratchet returned to his med bay and Hound. The junior medics had laid out everything he needed to repair Hound already.

"Aid, you're in charge of cataloguing the others when they return. There are a few minor injuries, some patched, some not, but nothing serious. I'll leave them up to you and Swoop," Ratchet instructed. "Jack, get onto Prime and find out when they're due back."

"On it," the inventor nodded.

Ratchet turned back to Hound and sighed. "Better start on getting you rebuilt then. You two!" The other medics were immediately at his side. "This will be good learning experience for you. Perceptor's not here at the moment, and he won't always be, so you've both got to learn how to repair delicate circuitry for weapons."

The white mech prised out a scorched and blackened panel and held it up. Swoop bobbed his head. "No repair that. Replacement needed." The dinobot rummaged around for a moment in a spare component's bin before holding up an identical, non-damaged part.

"Thank you, Swoop." Ratchet traded panels with him and got to work, talking as he did so, and the others watched carefully, answered questions and asked their own.

It was only a few breems later when the others began arriving back. There were a few dents and knocks between them, but nothing rivalled Hound's injury and there was no one that presented a problem for First Aid and Swoop, so Ratchet was left to repair the scout in relative peace.

About an hour later everyone but First Aid, Ratchet and Hound, were gone from the med bay, and the latter of the three was deep in recharge under a mild sedation whilst Ratchet ran checks on his newly repaired shoulder lines. It was during this Optimus paid them a visit, coming to check on the condition of Hound, whom he had not seen injured and wanted to see for himself the extent of the damage.

"Ratchet. How is he doing?"

"He'll be out for at least a day. I want to be sure, and that will give Wheeljack enough time to start fabricating him some new weapons," the CMO replied. "It was nasty but it could have been a lot worse."

"Do you know what happened?"

The white mech stilled, clearly thinking before he turned to face the bigger mech. "Optimus, I think I should talk to you." Ratchet met his leader's optics. "In private."

Optimus raised an optic ridge. Ratchet was known for never leaving the med bay when he had serious patients confined within.

"First Aid can hold down the bay for a few moments," Ratchet explained, loud enough for the other ambulance to hear. The junior medic nodded, if a little nervously. Optimus followed his CMO into his office, where Ratchet shut the door behind him and gestured for him to take a seat.

"How much do you know about Hound's personal life?" Ratchet got straight to the point.

Optimus paused for a moment, thinking about the scout, before answering. "Not a lot. He rarely gets drawn to my attention for anything other than incidents relating to the war."

Ratchet nodded. "So you wouldn't know who he's been interfacing with lately, and regularly, then?"

Optimus blinked at that. "No, and I would avoid that information if it wasn't causing trouble among the crew."

Ratchet 'hmmph-ed' before going off on a tangent. "Do you know how he got back to me today?"

"Luck." Optimus had seen the enough injuries like Hound's out in the field.

"I suppose you could call him that," Ratchet shrugged. "His other name would be Thundercracker."

"What?"

"Thundercracker, apparently, saved him from being terminated by three other 'Cons and flew him to me."

Optimus felt his world tilt on its axis briefly as the information settled in his CPU, and then it connected the dots in the conversations he'd been having. "Hound has been interfacing with Thundercracker?"

Ratchet nodded. "I guessed as much, and neither one of them denied it."

"That's… unexpected."

"Unexpected?" the medic snorted. "The best you can come up with is unexpected?"

The big mech shrugged his shoulders. "It would have been obvious if Hound had been slipping Thundercracker information about us, and since no one else has raised any concerns about Hound, then I see little point in worrying."

"That's lovely," Ratchet muttered sarcastically. "And what happens if Hound and Thundercracker find themselves in a similar situation again? Will Thundercracker do more to save Hound at risk to his own life and would you take one third of the lead Decepticon Seeker trine in if he turned? You know how the others would react to that."

Optimus looked away briefly, thoughts turning in his CPU. "You know I wouldn't deny anyone who seriously wished to join us."

"However dubious their reasons," Ratchet snorted.

"Love has changed many things."

"Who said they were in love?" the medic raised one optic ridge.

"You've seen them together. What would you say?" Optimus asked seriously.

Ratchet pursed his lips, thinking. "There were things said, moments, when there was more going on than just interfacing, but love? That's pushing it."

"Why? Because Thundercracker's a Deception?"

"Because can you truly see him changing his allegiance?" Ratchet firmly shook his head. "You know we'll never lose Hound to the Decepticon cause, but _Thundercracker_ change his colours?"

"I'd expect it more from him than, say, Starscream." Optimus gave Ratchet a level look.

"Point taken, but would you ever have considered him switching sides before all of this?"

Optimus was forced to admit he wouldn't, but he also wouldn't turn anyone away if they wanted to join the Autobots, or simply wanted protection from the Decepticons.

"You've got to talk to him."

Optimus ran one hand over his face briefly. "I know. Won't that be fun conversation." Ratchet choked back a cackle of laughter, which made him snort inelegantly. Optimus gave him a flat look. "Thank you. Do you think anyone else knows?"

"It wouldn't come as any surprise if Jazz has worked this out. He said he'd look into it a while back." Ratchet folded his arms. "If Hound has told anyone about this, it would be Mirage."

"I'll have a word with Jazz," Optimus replied thoughtfully. "He deals with a lot of things by himself when he thinks they'd be too much for me or Prowl."

"Prowl doesn't know." Ratchet shook his head.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he hasn't arrested Hound and he hasn't ended up in here with a frozen CPU," Ratchet explained dryly.

"Fair point."

Optimus slowly stood and Ratchet followed him out into the med bay. Both of them glanced at the unconscious scout before Optimus shook his head and left, deep in thought. The big mech wasn't concerned about Hound, he trusted his troops to make the right decisions. It was the complications that would follow from, effectively, sleeping with the enemy, on both sides. Optimus knew, full well, that there were some mechs amongst his crew that would take violent prejudice against Hound and he daren't imagine what would happen to Thundercracker if the Cons found out, which they could very well do if his own side found out.

Optimus made it back to his own office, taking a seat behind his desk. On a whim he called up Hound's service file and reacquainted himself with everything the scout had done since joining the Autobots. He had been a relatively early recruit, though he had never shown any interest in rising through the ranks. Hound had simply wanted to fight for what he believed in and what he did, he did exceptionally well. There were many a mech that owed their life to the green mech and his skills, Optimus among them.

The big mech then called up the file they kept on Thundercracker. Prowl did a remarkable job in keeping the enemy datafiles up-to-date and everything was there, down to injuries and possible short and long term effects. Thundercracker had caused a few problems, he was an excellent aerial fighter and smart enough to avoid problems, but he had not done anything of great note, like Soundwave.

Optimus was still studying the files when he called Jazz to his office. The third in command didn't take long in answering by turning up at his door, walking through without a knock or a word. Only Jazz would dare.

"Jazz, is there something you want to tell me?" Optimus asked casually, looking up from his work.

The saboteur met his gaze calmly. "Maybe. Who says I got summat t' tell?"

"Ratchet."

"Ah, Doc bot got the pieces together then," Jazz guessed.

"And told me." Optimus leant back in his chair. "I would have appreciated it if you'd been the one to tell me."

"I made a decision not t'. I'm keepin' an optic on 'em, doin' what needs doin', but Optimus, slag it if I ain't seen Hound happier."

"Ratchet asked me what I would do if Hound persuaded Thundercracker to switch sides." Optimus laced his fingers together. "Of course, you know I wouldn't turn anyone away, but I would like your opinion on the matter."

"TC change his colours?" Jazz frowned. "Man, I don't know. I ain't seen 'em together. I guess if he did switch then ya can't turn 'im away, even though it would make a lot o' bots unhappy here."

"Isn't keeping moral good within our forces a top priority?" Optimus didn't put any emphasis on his words. He wasn't pushing for an answer either way.

"Yeah, but a Seeker would be one pit o' an asset 'n ya gotta consider how much it would hurt us t' lose Hound."

"You think we'd lose Hound to the Decepticon cause?" Optimus sounded surprised.

"Nah, but if Thundercracker up 'n left the Cons, but wasn't wanted here, he couldn't stay on Earth, it wouldn't be safe for 'im. I betcha Hound would seriously consider goin' with 'im."

Optimus' optics dropped to his folded hands as he thought. Jazz didn't envy him. For all the advice he could give, Optimus was the one who had to make the final decision. It was a sign of a good leader that he was thinking about this before the actual problem had arisen. That, and he was calmly considering all options. Jazz doubted he would do anything resembling punishment to Hound, and he wouldn't make him stay, but it would seriously hurt the Autobots to lose their best scout, one that had adapt so well to their new environment.

Jazz was also aware that Optimus knew what it was like to be in love. It was not well known how close he was to the femme Commander Elita-One, but Jazz knew he would move worlds if she needed him to. It had to colour his views on what it was like to be Hound and to find yourself in such a position in the middle of war.

No, Jazz didn't envy Optimus one tiny bit right at that moment, but trusted him to make the right decision, just like they'd always done before and would always do after.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8  
Notes:** *insert the usual thank yous here* To my beta, to all of you that read this. I suspect that this chapter has something in it you guys were expecting in the last chapter, but after this, just one more chapter and an epilogue.

-

Two days later Hound stared up at his Prime's door. Something in Ratchet's attitude had tipped him off. Optimus _knew,_ and now he was afraid that walking through that door in front of him would force him to make a decision he couldn't face making. He raised his hand and tentatively pressed the door chime.

"Come in."

Hound swallowed the urge to flee in the other direction at the sound of his leader's voice and stepped through the doors as they opened for him. Once he was in the room they slid shut behind, closing the pair of them off so they could talk in private. The scout didn't make optic contact with Optimus, he merely stared at his desk. Optimus, in his turn, studied the green mech, seeing the miserable aura surrounding him and wished he didn't have to do this.

"Please sit down." Optimus gestured at the seat opposite him. Hound did so, though his posture never relaxed. "I don't want to make this more difficult than it already is, so I'll get straight to the point. I'm sure you're aware why I called you here."

"Yes sir," Hound replied. He couldn't bring himself to say more.

"Hound, you have my permission to speak freely," Optimus told him.

"I…" The scout cast around. "I don't know where to start."

Optimus hid a sigh. He had wanted to avoid direct questions. That made it feel more formal and Hound was less likely to open up to him. "Can you tell me about your first meeting that started all of this?"

Hound nodded slowly. "Yes sir. I was off shift, out in the nearby forest, when Thundercracker appeared and started blowing up a cliff face. I just stepped out into view and asked whether he was having a bad day. He was surprised but didn't shoot me. We just talked. It wasn't anything… special."

"I take it this became a regular occurrence then."

"Not at first, but then…" Hound glanced up at Optimus briefly before returning his gaze to the desk. "One day Starscream had attempted another coup, fled when it hadn't worked and Megatron had taken his rage out on Thundercracker. He was hurt and angry and I… I made him a hologram he could take his frustration out on. Something happened afterwards, we didn't split on good terms…"

Optimus waited patiently, realising it must be hard for Hound to tell him all this when it was subordinate to superior, even though he hadn't done anything against the rules.

"He left me a present to say sorry. I left him one to say thank you. I guess that's when the friendship really started."

"And the intimacy? That was later?"

The smaller mech shifted in his seat. "The battle in the wooded valley, where the Decepticons had been attacking that army base, Bluestreak had shot Thundercracker down and when everyone called retreat he got left behind. When Megatron had to send someone back for him he… He was so angry that you'd beaten him." Hound did meet Optimus' optics then.

"He took it out on Thundercracker," Optimus guessed sadly.

"He took such a long time getting back to our meetings, I was getting so worried about him." Hound shook his head. "When we did finally meet up, things just… escalated. I don't think either of us knew it was going to happen like that, but we… It just did and now it…means so much, to both of us."

"Do you think he would ever join us?"

That gave Optimus a glimpse of Hound's deep struggle with the whole arrangement. "I don't know."

"You want him to."

Hound hesitated before nodding. "Yes. When he's not with me, when he's with them, I spend all my time worrying about him. I would feel better, knowing he was safe."

"I don't think anyone is safe," Optimus replied. "Not in the midst of war."

"No, but the Ark is a haven in comparison to the Nemesis."

"I can't disagree there." The bigger mech shifted in his seat.

"Sir," Hound suddenly blurted. "I know what we've being doing is wrong and I am sorry for keeping it from you, but…"

Optimus held up a hand, stalling the green mech. "It wasn't wrong. There is nothing in the rules that forbids a relationship with a member of the opposite faction, barring information being leaked, which I know you wouldn't do." Optimus smiled, though it was hidden under his facemask. "My spark tells me that I shouldn't judge you for listening to your feelings in this matter."

Hound shuffled his feet, feeling embarrassed. "What are you going to do sir?"

Optimus did sigh then. "Hound, I don't want to have to say this, but this relationship is being to become more and more difficult to hide, isn't it? How many mechs now know? All it will take would be the wrong word to the wrong mech and we could lose both you and Thundercracker."

Hound froze in his seat. He'd been dreading this. Never in his career had he deliberately disobeyed direct orders, but if Optimus told him never to see Thundercracker again, he just couldn't do it and he suspected Optimus knew that too. That would mean a court marshal, then everyone would know and that was the one thing they were trying to avoid until Thundercracker had made his decision to leave the Decepticons. That decision could be forever in coming.

"I'm not going to order you to stay away from Thundercracker," Optimus told him and Hound couldn't help but let out a little noise of relief. "But you must see that this can't continue like it stands."

"I know sir," Hound nodded miserably. "But I can't force him to leave the Decepticons and I can't give him up either."

"And I can't risk losing you." Optimus shook his head. "I don't want to have to send you back to Cybertron; your adaptation to this planet, in terms of your skills, would be too hard to replace and I doubt, somehow, Megatron would simply send Thundercracker away if I asked."

"We'll try to be more careful," Hound promised, knowing it really wasn't an answer.

Optimus studied him. He had hoped, somehow, in all this conversation that a solution to their problems would present itself, but it was clear Hound was torn between his duty and feelings. Optimus wasn't a tyrant; they may be in midst of a millennia long war, but the relationship that had grown between the scout and seeker was one of those reasons that proved that the war was worth fighting, that it could end. His own views stopped him from banning Hound from contact with the seeker. There was a reason relationships between his own forces weren't forbidden.

"It's all I can ask," Optimus agreed before his voice turned more forceful. "But if this gets out of hand I won't have any choice in the matter. I doubt capturing Thundercracker and locking him away in our brig would make him want to change his allegiances but if it keeps both of you safe, then I will do it."

Hound nodded. Locking the seeker up in the bottom of the volcano would be cruel indeed, with no sky or freedom to fly. The scout knew it was a warning to him. His choices could mean, essentially, Thundercracker's punishment if he got it wrong and that was something Hound would fight to avoid. It was more motivating than threatening his own chassis.

"Thank you sir."

Optimus nodded. "Dismissed."

As Hound reached the door Optimus spoke up again. "Be careful Hound."

The green mech glanced back over his shoulder at the big bot behind his desk but offered nothing more in response before he exited the room. Optimus watched the door slide shut again, knowing where Hound was going, or rather whom he was going to. His optics dropped to his own terminal, along with a wish he could go to visit the femme in his own spark like that.

-

Hound found Thundercracker waiting for him by their little cave. The seeker watched the Jeep transform, step across the short distance between them and open his mouth to speak, then their optics met. The look instantly turned heated and the two metal chassis clashed together as the mechs grabbed each other, mouths meeting and glossas tangling.

The seeker broke away first, intakes working heavily already. "I've missed you."

"I can tell," Hound murmured back and then there were no more words for nearly a joor until they lay side by side, relaxing and regaining their spent energy.

Thundercracker was propped up on one elbow as he ran his free hand over Hound's shoulder and chest. It was the same side that Astrotrain had torn up in the last battle and Thundercracker was just reassuring himself his lover was indeed whole and well. He knew he was, their previous, rather physically engaging activities proved that, but the blue mech couldn't seem to help himself. Hound lay quietly under the questing fingertips, softly smiling up at the seeker as he concentrated on being so very gentle.

"Question for you," Thundercracker spoke up abruptly, once he was done. "How come Ratchet knew about those cuffs before I did?"

Hound chuckled. "Well I had to get them from somewhere and I never got the chance to show them to you before that last battle."

"You asked your medic for stasis cuffs?" Thundercracker looked simultaneously impressed and confused.

"Mmmhmm." The scout lifted up one hip so he could access his subspace pocket there and drew out said cuffs. "They're just low-level ones. Immobilise your hands and lower arms, but nothing else."

Thundercracker's optics glowed in the semi-darkness as he reached for them but Hound drew them out of reach and he made a small whining noise in protest. The blue optics of his lover sparkled as he smiled. "I think they'd look better on you, you know."

The seeker immediately looked up then, searching his face. Hound remained silent, letting the other mech make the decision. He wouldn't fight Thundercracker if he insisted that Hound wear the cuffs, but he wanted to see just how far the seeker would trust him. They had come a long way and he knew Thundercracker trusted him to keep his secrets, that he would talk to him, but they had never been in a position where the seeker had been forced to put his physical safety in the Autobot's hands. It was a Decepticon safe guard that existed deep within each one of them. It wasn't that Hound planned to hurt him, far from it, but it was the act of trust, because Thundercracker could not get the cuffs off by himself.

"Promise you'll put them on later?" Thundercracker asked.

"Next time, whatever you want," Hound promised gladly and then he let the seeker take them off him.

Thundercracker snapped one cuff over his wrist and then paused, staring at the cuffs. It just wasn't something he'd ever expect to find himself doing and he'd had all sorts of plans when Hound had been the one wearing these, not him. He didn't know just what Hound planned to do and, if he was truly honest, he was afraid to let his guard down that much. Every time they'd interfaced before this, he'd been the one in charge, leading, demanding. Now he wouldn't be.

Hound leaned up and gave him an encouraging kiss. "You'll love it. I swear."

Thundercracker let his lover close the other cuff over his free wrist and instantly they went numb and unresponsive. Hound sat up, one black hand locked on the bar between Thundercracker's wrists and guided the blue mech to lie on his back before his raised those joined hands over his head.

"They stay there," Hound instructed, leaning in close to the seeker's face. One black digit ran down the length of his arm, all the way to the top of his helm, across one vent to his cheek and then teasingly over his lips. Thundercracker whined, wanting more than just tormenting touches, but he knew it was part of the game.

Hound happily indulged himself, mapping out every inch of the seeker's chassis in an unhurried manner, taking his time to seemingly touch everywhere, but only for a fleeting moment. The light caresses were driving Thundercracker to distraction and he tried arching up into them to make the contact stronger, but Hound just pressed him back down again. It didn't seem to matter though, they were still making his energy levels rise, making him hungry for more.

The green mech knew he couldn't be so cruel forever and laid his mouth on the chassis, making the Seeker hiss in pleasure. He dragged his glossa from turbine to wing tip until Thundercracker was quivering under him and he could feel the heat burning up through his thighs where he straddled the seeker's hip plates.

"My turn," he whispered into one black audio before reaching for Thundercracker's interface cable. Once they were connected Hound sat back on his heels, staring down at the Seeker spread out under him and the hungry look in the mech's optics. He could feel the others need through their connection and it made him shiver in anticipation.

"I'm going to make you overload without touching you again," Hound stated, voice soft but firm. "Unless you ask me to."

Thundercracker opened his mouth to tell him to get on with it but all that came out was a breathy noise of lust when Hound started touching himself in all those places Thundercracker liked to touch him. The feelings of pleasure echoed through their connection and the seeker moaned quietly, his own body reacted to the phantom caresses. Red optics watched avidly as those black hands that had just been touching him wandered over headlights and bumper. One slipped behind the green mech to run across his windshield.

The Decepticon was being slowly driven insane watching this. He desperately wanted to touch, be involved, to build that heat up faster but he couldn't. All he was in this was the mech Hound was staring at as he built himself to overload, the mech that was making him hot by being cuffed under him. Thundercracker groaned as that thought registered. He hadn't realised being so passive was so stimulating.

"Hound…" His voice sounded almost like it wasn't his own, it was so desperate. The mech gave out a little gasp in response to his name and the flash of arousal made the seeker squirm. "Hound… I need… to… touch… _please_."

The scout bent down to him, one hand resting on either side of his cockpit before he pressed his lips to Thundercracker's. The seeker demanded more of the kiss, lifting his whole upper body clear from the ground to push it into Hound's hands. Hound dug his fingers into transformation seams, brushing wires and clusters, making Thundercracker gasp into the kiss.

"_More!_"

Hound moved one hand to cup and stroke a heel turbine as the fingers of the other outlined an intake. The final straw for the seeker was that mouth as it moved to one wing, using his denta to bite down, nibbling along one edge. Thundercracker's overload made his whole chassis buck and shake as he cried out Hound's name. The green mech shuttered his own optics, bracing himself as the feedback hurled him into his own overload. The seeker twitched, whimpering as he caught the tail end of Hound's overload through their connection. Hound managed to disconnect them and uncuff Thundercracker before he rolled off the seeker. He collapsed onto the ground next to him, panting alongside his lover.

"You were right," Thundercracker admitted, still trying to sort his scrambled CPU out.

"Course," Hound murmured, optics dim. "Sorry, don't think I'm quite back up to full strength…"

With that he dropped into recharge. The seeker smiled, rolling onto his side so he could see him better as his own body recovered. He glanced at the cuffs. Letting his guard down to Hound hadn't been so bad and he would definitely consider doing that again, but he owed Hound some of that torture now. With that in mind Thundercracker slipped the cuffs in a subspace pocket. His ideas could wait. He was content to just watch for now, even though that kept drawing him back to the same question.

As Hound lay in a light recharge next to him, Thundercracker sat up to bend across over him, peering closely at his utterly relaxed features. He was trying to find that little thing that made him keep coming back. Why this mech? The Autobot had straight, quite plain features, ending in that chin guard and the rest of his chassis echoed his face; straight lines, very few curves, practical and simple. So very different to Thundercracker himself. Maybe that was why he found him so intriguing.

Unable to resist, the seeker trailed two black fingers across his cheek and Hound murmured softly, turning his face into the touch. Thundercracker smiled and pressed his lips to Hound's as the scout came back online fully.

"Mmm," Hound murmured as Thundercracker pulled back. "I wish I could wake up every morning like that."

The blue mech abruptly stopped smiling, looking away, mood suddenly changing, turning on him. "I fragging hate this!"

It didn't take long for the green mech to realise just what he was talking about and he couldn't disagree. "Me too."

"Why can't this war just be over already? I mean what are we really fighting over?" Thundercracker sat up, mulishly staring out of their cave.

"You know you can always change sides…" Hound tried softly, knowing it was a useless argument, slowly sitting up too.

"War would still be happening and…"

"…and you can't leave Skywarp."

Thundercracker's head dropped sadly. "I'm sorry Hound, it's just…"

"I know, you don't have to say it. It's just…"

"All this sneaking around, you hate it, I hate it." Thundercracker looked down at his hands. "Maybe we should just forget this. It's a fantasy that this would ever last."

Hound could hear the lack of commitment in his lover's voice and wasn't really afraid he meant it, even though it would probably be the safest and wisest thing to do.

"A fantasy can be a secret wish," Hound whispered. "In a hole deep in your spark you know it's not real, you fear that it'll never be real, but you want it so bad, that there's someone else out there, that the universe has more to offer than meets the eye." He entwined his hands with Thundercracker's, who clutched them tightly. "I know I've always longed for that to be true but now that you've laid it at my feet, I don't want to miss a minute of it."

The seeker let out a huge sigh before he smiled at the green scout. "You know that was most ridiculously sappy, mushy, romantic thing I've ever heard." Hound grinned sheepishly, looking a little embarrassed. "And I loved it. No one's ever said anything like that to me before."

"I don't know why," Hound shook his head. "You deserve it."

"I don't think I do." The seeker leant his head against Hound's. "I've done things I'm not proud of. Being here with you has made that all the more painfully obvious."

"Thundercracker…"

"No, shush, let me finish." The seeker squeezed the black fingers in his own. "I don't blame you for that. I could never blame you. I should have realised sooner and stopped living in such a delusion." Hound held his breath, wondering if maybe, just maybe, Thundercracker was saying what he wanted him say. "I know I'm still living it, but I made my choice long ago and it was the right choice then. I just wish I knew where it went wrong."

Hound buried the sigh. It wasn't what he'd been hoping for, but he would never pressure Thundercracker into changing his mind. "At least you know that now. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we're still living in the present and we can only affect what we do here and now. Neither one of us is ready for a change, more than this, right now and maybe it'll be years before we are but I…" The green mech faltered, suddenly realising what he had been going to say. The seeker at his side shifted, waiting, albeit a little impatiently, for him to finish. "But I have no intention of going anywhere. I plan on keeping you all to myself."

"Good," Thundercracker replied, agreement in his voice. "I'm not letting you go anywhere anyway. I'd tie you down in here before I'd let that happen."

"You just want me in those cuffs," Hound laughed.

Thundercracker chuckled. "Guilty as charged."

**A/N:** I forgot to say - The 'A fantasy can be a secret wish' bit Hound says is actually a quote taken from a show called Codename: Eternity, so all credit there, but I love it too much not to use it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9  
Notes: **So here it is people, at long fragging last! I'm very, very sorry it's taken me so long, I just had a major blank for the ending of this chapter. I'd got the epilogue written before the end of this... and yes that will be posted straight after this, just in case you all lynch me. Much love to my beta, as always.

-

Fifteen years wasn't all that long for a Cybertronian, though the war made the years drag by, but neither Hound nor Thundercracker minded if their time together seemed longer than it was. They were still together. There had been some close calls for the both of them, but somehow, their relationship hadn't been discovered by anyone else. The seeker still hadn't given up on the Decepticons and Hound no longer mentioned it. They both knew where the other stood.

It had been the past year or so that times had been hard on the pair of them, because it was now the earth year 2005 and the Decepticons had finally claimed Cybertron as their own. Thundercracker had barely seen Hound in all that time, only in passing in a few battles, and they were trying their best not to let their loneliness show, especially the flyer. He was supposed to be rejoicing they were winning the war, but he was aware what would happen to Hound if they truly crushed the Autobots. Thundercracker didn't want to win, so he hung back in battles, letting the others claim the fights. That way he never fired a shot when they boarded that ill-fated Autobot shuttle heading for Earth, though that didn't make him feel any better about watching the mechs he knew Hound regarded as friends fall.

The seeker knew it was his own fault for still being here, on this side, but he couldn't find it in himself to take those final hard steps away and Hound never talked about it anymore, never pushed Thundercracker into admitting he did want something different now. Hound…

-

Hound dodged fire, hunkering down behind a ruined wall, waiting for a lull in the firing before he moved on. As he paused, checking his weapon, he heard a low noise very much like a moan and a concerned frown passed over his face as he searched for the source of the noise. It came again from somewhere ahead of him to his right.

Quickly the green mech switched places so he was closer and as he ducked behind yet another ruined wall he saw a pair of pedes sticking out from behind a pile of rubble. Feet he instantly recognised.

"Thundercracker!" He was by his side in an instant. Hound pressed a quick kiss to the black helm, almost in self reassurance. "What happened?"

The seeker cracked optics open at him. "Optimus shot me. It fragging hurt."

Hound winced. "I'll bet."

Swiftly he ran a scan over Thundercracker, noting the cracked plating and damaged struts. There was a charred hole in the front of Thundercracker's cockpit but it didn't seem to have burned down to anything major inside. The light blue seeker could move if he wanted to, but he wasn't going to be transforming and flying off anywhere. He wasn't leaking much energon, thankfully, so Hound could do little but keep watch over him. The seeker remained where he was, optics shuttered as he just coped with the pain. He had been vaguely worried about another Autobot finding him, but now Hound was here he felt ridiculously safe.

Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise before Starscream's voice cackled, "How do you feel, mighty Megatron? Astrotrain! Transform and get us out of here!"

Thundercracker struggled to sit up and Hound grabbed his shoulders. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"They're leaving, I've got to go," Thundercracker gasped.

Hound glanced across to where he could just make out the other Decepticons fleeing and abruptly decided something that would change their lives forever.

"No, you're not going with them."

"What?" The injured mech looked up at him startled. "I can't stay here!"

"You can and will. I will look after you and this stupidity between us will be over," Hound stated firmly, still refusing to let Thundercracker up. "Let them think you died here and you can join the Autobots, or just turn neutral and never fight again. I refuse to watch you go back to the Decepticons anymore."

"Hound… The others… what we've done…" Thundercracker looked around at the devastation.

"I won't let anyone hurt you. They'll have to go through me first." Hound folded his arms over his chest.

The seeker stared at him, so used to Hound being agreeable that this forceful side of him was a shock. Astrotrain suddenly blasted by overhead and Thundercracker knew he was stuck on Earth and his head dropped.

"Come on," Hound said more gently. "Let's find Ratchet and get you patched up."

Thundercracker silently let the scout help him to his feet and leaned heavily on him, feeling the pain wash through him from his chest. Recently it had been Thundercracker that had been more worried about Hound's safety than his own, since the Decepticons had pushed the Autobots from Cybertron, so the seriousness of his injury only added to his quiet. That and the sudden turnaround in the position he found himself in.

Slowly they made their way through the rubble, heading for the destroyed entrance of Autobot city. Ahead of them Hound could see movement inside and steeled himself for a confrontation, his grip tightening on Thundercracker without thought. They were barely at the ruined doors when Springer looked up abruptly, gun appearing in his hand as an automatic reaction.

"What the slag is going on?" Springer shouted, gun training on the blue seeker.

"Wait, don't shoot," Hound raised one empty hand, palm out. "It's alright, he won't do anything."

"He's a fragging Decepticon, why shouldn't I?" Springer growled, optics narrowing.

"Because I'll vouch for him," Hound replied. "Just ask Ratchet or Optimus."

"I would, if I could," Springer waved his hand back behind him. "But Optimus doesn't look like he'll make it and we've heard nothing from the shuttle Ratchet was on!"

"What?" Hound stopped dead, staring at the other green mech in horror. "Optimus is dying?"

"Megatron and he really did a number on each other. The others are with him now, doing what they can." Springer shook his head. "Wheeljack and Windcharger are gone, blown away."

"And the shuttle? Ratchet? The others?" Hound asked faintly, realising Optimus' best chance lay with their CMO.

"Bluestreak and Huffer headed over to where it crashed when the battle started, but we've still heard nothing."

"Hound," Thundercracker shook his head. "I'm sorry. They… they fought bravely…"

"No, don't tell me you…" Hound shut his optics. "This war…"

"I should go." The blue seeker looked up at Springer. "This isn't the place for me."

"You're not going anywhere." Springer stepped closer to him, gun still aimed at his head.

"Agreed," Hound echoed. "Earth isn't Decepticon friendly, and until we can replace those symbols and you're fixed up you're better off here."

"What the slag are you going on about?" Springer snapped.

"Apparently I'm changing sides." Thundercracker jerked his head at Hound in explanation.

"I've had enough of worrying about his safety every time he goes back to _them_," the green scout glared at Springer, daring him to try and dispute it. "I'm not letting him this time."

"Worry about him?"

"Thundercracker and I have been together for years now. No one knew apart from Ratchet, Optimus Jazz and Mirage."

"And Soundwave," Thundercracker butted in.

"Soundwave knows?" Hound frowned at him but Springer didn't let them continue.

"I can tell why no one else knew." Springer's gun transferred to Hound. "You've been interfacing with a Con all this time. You're the one that should be shot."

"Hound's never done anything to betray you." The blue seeker suddenly straightened, some of the fire back in his optics. "I'll kill you before you touch him."

The gun went back to Thundercracker. The tension rose as both Hound and Thundercracker glared at Springer, neither willing to back down.

"Guys, cool it. This ain't the time." Blaster's voice suddenly said from behind Springer just before the red mech himself appeared.

"He's a pit born Decepticon and you saw what they did to Optimus!" Springer snarled.

"What Megatron did," Blaster corrected. "Yeah I saw, but this ain't no time to be adding to the body count."

"Thank you Blaster," Hound said softly.

The taller mech tilted his head at him. "Still don't explain what you're doing bring us a Con in though."

"This traitor's been fragging around with _him_." Springer lowered the gun so he could jab a digit at the appropriate mech as he spoke.

"Is that right?" Blaster asked.

Both Hound and Thundercracker nodded. Blaster shrugged. "What ya do in your own time ain't up to me. Let 'em in Springer, there's work to be done and Thundercracker ain't in no state to be throwing us a curve ball now."

The triple changer snorted derisively and turned away, heading across the ruined city to go find something to do. Blaster shrugged at Hound and Thundercracker before disappearing off as well, leaving the two alone. The seeker stared at the devastated city and really didn't want to go inside, not when he had been part of its downfall.

"Come on," Hound took a step forward, urging his wounded partner to do the same. "Let's see if we can find you a room."

It took the pair awhile but Hound found Thundercracker an empty and undamaged room. It looked like it had been empty for some time and was somewhat out of the way. The seeker wasn't going to complain about that one. The green mech drew himself from the others side, saying he had to go find Perceptor for Thundercracker. That left the seeker alone and that made him uncomfortable. He couldn't bring himself to lie down, but he perched himself on the edge of the berth, head hanging down, optics shuttered. His CPU was in turmoil and he just couldn't seem to organise his thoughts.

The blue mech wasn't alone for all that long, before he shifted uneasily when he heard footsteps coming his way but relaxed when Hound appeared in the doorway. Instantly he knew something was wrong. Hound's head hung low and his whole demeanour screamed sadness and loss. The seeker slid unsteadily off the berth and crossed to Hound's side, gently wrapping an arm around his shoulders. The green mech leaned into him.

"Optimus is gone." His voice was barely audible. "Everyone on the shuttle's dead. Prowl, Ratchet, Ironhide, Brawn…"

Thundercracker didn't know what to do. A cycle ago those mechs were his enemies, but now the mech that had saved his life, his lover of many years, was in mourning for them. He had to do something but this was beyond his experience. Uncertain, he put his other arm around Hound and the green mech clung to him, silent but shaking.

"I'm sorry," Thundercracker whispered to the top of the helm beneath his chin. "Really I am. I… This…Hound I don't know what to do. What do we do?"

"We keep going," he replied, head rising so he could meet the red optics. "You always keep going."

"Who's taking charge now?"

"Ultra Magnus. Optimus passed the Matrix to him for safe keeping." Hound looked down at the cockpit chest before him. "Come on, let's get you on that berth again. Perceptor is doing the rounds on the injured. The Dinobots are slightly worse off than you but you're next after that."

"Before all the other Autobots? Won't that cause trouble?" Thundercracker let Hound lead him back to the berth.

"You're one of us now." Hound studied him. "Or do you want to turn your back on all of this? No one will blame you."

Thundercracker looked away. "I don't know."

"That's ok." Hound ran his fingers lightly down his arm.

"He's right," a voice from the doorway told them. Both mechs looked up to see a battered looking Sunstreaker in the doorway. The yellow twin had a cracked windshield and one headfin was badly torn but he didn't seem to notice. "I overheard your little conversation. It takes some fragged up bravery to turn your back on your friends like that. Fighting them? Even more of a difficult decision."

Thundercracker was scowling at the intruding mech. "I would have thought you'd be laying into me already, not playing nice."

Sunstreaker regarded him with narrowed, but calm optics. "It's good to see you notice what nice looks like from me."

"You're not attempting to stick my nose cone in my after burner, anything else is _nice_." Thundercracker snorted.

"What do you want, Sunstreaker?" Hound asked, arms folding under his bumper.

"You really serious about switching sides?" The yellow mech's optics never left the blue seeker. "No Hound," he raised a hand when Hound opened his mouth to speak. "From him."

The blue seeker looked away for a moment and when he spoke, his voice was low. "These past few years, things have been getting worse amongst the Decepticons and it hasn't sat right with me. There's lots of things that have never been right to me, but I chose to be there, I wasn't going to run out on my choices, but then there was Hound." His red optics met the scout's blue ones. "He made it even harder not to turn my back on them. I wanted to kill Astrotrain that day…" He abruptly shook his head. "Hound stopped me leaving, and now it's done I could start again…"

"With him," Sunstreaker added.

The seeker nodded. "There would be little point without."

"So do you want to be an Autobot or not?" Sunstreaker bluntly questioned.

Thundercracker's head dropped as he regarded his own hands before he glanced sideways at his own wing and then up at the red symbol on Hound's shoulder. "Yes."

Without another word Sunstreaker dug a couple of things out of sub-space and approached the seeker. He handed a small pot and brush to Hound so he was just left with another bottle and a cloth.

"What are they for?" Thundercracker stared at them suspiciously.

"This is a paint stripper. I'm going to take those purple blemishes off your wings and then put Autobot symbols on." Sunstreaker replied.

"Oh." Thundercracker watched the yellow mech who, over many occasions, had used those hands of his to hurt him. The same hands were now firm but careful, just removing the Decepticon symbol and not the base blue beneath it.

It didn't take Sunstreaker long to remove the purple paint of one wing, back and front. Once he was done and he'd cleaned the last remnants of paint stripper away, the twin switched sides with Hound to start on the other side. Thundercracker shifted slightly, chest aching from holding one position for this long.

"Move and I'll rip your wings off."

The seeker blinked at Twin but wisely took his advice and didn't budge an inch. Not until Perceptor appeared in the doorway.

"I had heard a rumour that an injured Decepticon was present in our midst but until I had just laid my optics on such a mech, I had not believed it."

"Perceptor," Hound began. "Will you fix him?"

"Of course," the scientist nodded. "I can see he is serious about changing his allegiances, though I would suspect that Ultra Magnus would prefer that you did not emblazon him with the Autobot symbol until he has chance to discuss your commitment to our cause."

Sunstreaker shot the red mech a closed look but stepped away to give him access to the seeker. Thundercracker hesitated briefly before lying back on the berth. It was hard to just change everything ingrained into him and trust these mechs that a cycle ago he'd been ordered to kill. It helped to have Hound staying close by, though he'd never say that. The others didn't need to know that and Hound was already well aware that the seeker took comfort in his presence.

It didn't take Perceptor long to repair the damage to Thundercracker's chest and cockpit. There wasn't much circuitry to replace, and that was the major thing cause the seeker pain. The missing glass in the cockpit was easy to replace. They held spares because of the Aerialbots and one was simply retrofitted to the blue mech. Throughout the procedure everyone was quiet, bar Perceptor, until another explosion rocked the city.

"What the frag?" Sunstreaker glanced up at the ceiling as it rained bits down on them. Thundercracker shot upright on his berth.

"Decepticons!" Blaster's voice echoed over what was left of the tannoy. "Everyone to evacuate to the shuttles, bar skeleton crew!"

The yellow warrior scowled darkly, snatched his supplies off Hound, sub-spaced the lot and was out the door in an instant. Perceptor hurriedly gathered his possessions together before heading after Sunstreaker. Another blast rocked the room, making Hound reach out to steady himself against Thundercracker.

"Shouldn't we be evacuating?" The seeker asked, catching Hound's hand.

"No," Hound shook his head. "Along with Blaster and Sunstreaker I qualify for skeleton crew and it's safer for you, not going with the others. That, and I suspect the Decepticons will chase the shuttles rather than come through here."

"What you're saying is that I'm safer if they don't see me," Thundercracker returned evenly. "Even though I'm willing to fight for you now."

"Being willing and being forced into it so soon is a different matter," the green mech told him, optics dropping to the hand Thundercracker still hadn't let go of and smiling softly. "Missed this."

"You're such a sap."

"Says the mech holding my hand," Hound grinned.

"Going to do more than that," the blue flyer tugged on said hand, drawing Hound to him. The smaller mech went willingly, sighing into the kiss. Thundercracker had no intention of keeping it chaste though and Hound hissed as fingers dug into the wires hidden under his bumper. He returned the gesture by scratching down the edge of the seeker's wings, deliberately going over the Decepticon-less patches.

Another boom made Hound wrench his mouth away. "We really shouldn't be doing this now."

"Probably," the other mech agreed. "But are you really going to stop me?"

"Probably not… slagger," Hound murmured, resting his head against Thundercracker's. "How come you, and only you, can make me neglect my duties?"

"I'm a wicked Decepticon remember?" Thundercracker teased.

"That's not going to work anymore," the scout chuckled.

"Oh I suspect it will," the seeker disagreed, fingers running down the length of his partner's back.

"Stop cheating." Hound shuttered his optics.

Another explosion had them both looking back up and Thundercracker snorted. "I suppose we should wait. We won't get any peace with that lot outside."

The green mech shook his head in exasperation. "Let's go find Blaster and work out what we're doing."

"We? I thought I was just going to sit on my aft and 'recover'."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Hound dragged him off the berth. "No slacking allowed."

"I'm only doing this so I can watch you work, make inappropriate comments and wind you up," Thundercracker told him.

"Wonderful." The green mech shot him a look before he smiled. "I'll just be thinking of all the things I've missed doing to you and with you instead."

The seeker paused in his steps before hurriedly catching Hound up who hadn't stopped walking. "I take it back. That's a much better idea."

Hound laughed, one of the first times in years, and caught Thundercracker's hand in his, making the seeker shake his head like he was disgusted with the act. The green mech knew better. The blue flyer was mostly pretence and he suspected he'd stay that way, but Hound didn't care, he'd seen under it all a long time ago and it was almost like that made Hound special. He was the only one that had seen it.

Hound did let go when they found Blaster though. The communications mech may have been indifferent about their relationship earlier, but that didn't mean now was the time to blatantly remind him of it. The red mech was busily trying to repair a station on one side of a room that was missing most of its ceiling and one wall.

"Blaster." Hound crossed to his side. "What do you want us to do?"

"I'm trying to repair communications best I can." Blaster glanced up at Hound. "Sunstreaker's working on any guns that are salvageable, which ain't many. Take ya pick which ya wanna try."

Hound was just about to open his mouth to reply when Blaster's comm blared into life.

'_Bluestreak to Blaster!'_

'_Blue!'_ Blaster's head shot up. _'Been worried 'bout ya. Ya alright?'_

'_Taking heavy fire out here and Huffer's hurt!' _The young gunner's voice was bordering on panic. _'I can't get him safe! Blaster what do I do?'_

'_Calm down Blue. I'm sending out someone. Gimme your co-ordinates.'_

As the three of them listened to Bluestreak babble out his position the two ground mechs frowned but didn't say anything to Bluestreak other than further reassurance.

"That's too far," Hound shook his head. "It's too open. We couldn't get close enough."

"You can't maybe," Thundercracker retorted.

"What?" Blaster frowned up at him.

"Tell him not to shoot me and I can give him some aerial backup." The seeker jerked his head at the open sky they could all see. "I'll get there in a fraction of the time it'd take you and I've got the skills to match the Decepticons in the air."

Blaster glanced at Hound, seeking reassurance that Thundercracker was as good as his word. Hound nodded but turned to Thundercracker.

"You sure?" The blue flyer nodded and Hound shifted uncomfortably. "Be safe ok?"

Thundercracker placed a hand on the green chest, over Hound's spark, and met his optics. "I promise."

Then he stepped away, launching himself up through the missing ceiling and transforming as soon as he was clear. The blue seeker let out his trademark boom as an act of defiance and because he still stood by the idea of never sneaking up on a fight. Hound watched him until he disappeared and Blaster opened up his comm to Bluestreak.

'_Bluestreak. Backup's on the way, but don't shoot him.'_

'_What? Why would I shoot him? Who are you sending?'_

'_It's Thundercracker. He's on our side now.'_ Blaster almost sounded apologetic.

'_What?'_ Bluestreak's voice was faint in shock.

'_Bluestreak, this is Hound. It's ok. I'll explain later but I promise he's trustworthy.'_

'_If you say so.'_ Bluestreak ended the comm with a dubious tone to his voice.

"Ya putting a lot of faith in him," the red mech commented with out inflection, which was enough to show his worry.

"When he gives his word he keeps it," Hound replied, optics darting between where he'd last seen Thundercracker and Blaster.

"There's a dish up top, needs repairing if this console's gonna work," Blaster jerked his thumb upwards. "Good view of the mountains too."

Hound flashed the communications officer a grateful smile. "On my way. Thanks Blaster."

With that Hound took off a sprint, moving as fast as he could down the corridor and to the upper levels of the base. Occasionally he was forced to go another route when blast away debris blocked his path, but he got out onto the roof barely three kliks later. He paused in the doorway, checking the skies for Decepticons, before he moved across to the edge of the roof, noting the dish hanging by a few wires. Hound activated a hologram that just made him look like another part of the structure as he knelt down. The scout wasn't a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but they all knew how to repair a lot of different structures and circuitry now. Necessity in the midst of war.

It took all the force of will Hound had to finish reattaching the dish before he started scanning for Thundercracker, occasionally freezing in place as a jet screamed by overhead. Summoning up his holographic projector he made an image of what his scanners could pick out, gradually narrowing down the area of his scanners. The display lit up the rooftop, detailing a mountain and then Hound found Bluestreak, hunkered down in a narrow crack in the rock face, Huffer jammed in behind him.

Thundercracker took him a little longer to find, only because tracking moving targets was harder. That he _was_ moving was a good sign and Hound found the seeker gracefully sweeping through the air, far out manoeuvring his enemies, but apart from a few a few glancing shots across their noses he seemed like he was just drawing their fire from the Autobots on the ground. The Decepticons seemed annoyed by his presence and it was distracting them from Bluestreak who was more than willing to pick off any Decepticon who got in his sights.

Abruptly the air was filled with a rumbling sound and Hound glanced to his left to see the shuttles taking off. The larger targets drew all the Decepticons, leaving the three alone in the mountains. Thundercracker circled Bluestreak's position for a klik and Hound wondered if he was grateful he no longer had to fight the Decepticons, but then had to admit surprise when the seeker landed right next to the two ground Autobots. His sensors told him Thundercracker was helping pull Huffer from the safety of the cliff crack and then his comms flared into life.

'_He's not that badly hurt, not if he can find the energy to complain like this!'_ Thundercracker's tone indicated his disgust.

'_That's Huffer alright. Can Blue bring him back by himself then?'_

'_He says so, but I think I just make him nervous.'_

'_Come back to me then.'_

'_You know I will.'_

Hound smiled softly, shutting down his display. He knew his friends aboard the shuttles were still in danger and that he should be mourning the loss of so many today, but the mech he loved was finally safer than he'd ever been in years and they could actually, publicly, visibly be together now. The green mech had been waiting years to be able to show the seeker it didn't matter what the others said, but had held back because of the issue over Thundercracker's safety amongst the Decepticons.

The blue jet appeared on the horizon, rapidly growing larger and he barely slowed as he transformed to land on the roof next to Hound. Rapidly the smaller mech checked him over for injuries, and finding none let go of the tension he'd been holding inside since Thundercracker had flown away from him. The seeker let Hound inspect him for a moment before pulling him flush to his chest, feeling the other mech arms wrap around him tightly.

"How long have we waited for this?" Hound whispered.

"Too slagging long and you know what?"

"What?" Hound blinked his optics questioningly.

"I _missed_ you," Thundercracker told him before pressing his lips to Hound's, almost forcefully. Hound opened his mouth willingly to the glossa demanding entrance and didn't stop the seeker. How could he when he'd missed this more than he'd ever thought possible? The kiss continued until both could hear the others intakes increase their cycling and Thundercracker broke away with a growl, optics glowing brightly. Hound knew what was coming.

"Inside, come on."

"You really want to wait that long?" The seeker playfully nipped at one audio.

"No," Hound groaned. "But if we find a room we can lock the door and ignore everyone for at least a day."

"Hmm, I think an orn would be better." Thundercracker didn't let go of Hound when he started walking, forcing the other mech to step back, trusting him not to walk him into the nearest wall, even though that wouldn't be beyond the seeker, because he did like Hound pinned against walls…

"Room's also have walls," Hound warned, noting the wandering optics.

The seeker relented, continuing onwards into the base and the nearest room he could find. The door slid shut behind them and Hound fumbled it locked, trying to remember his code whilst Thundercracker pressed him to the wall and did things to his headlights and bumper that hadn't been done in years. His breath hitched nosily as his lover nibbled down the side of his neck cables and he closed his hands over blue shoulders as he hung on. Hound couldn't stop the frustrated little whine that escaped him when Thundercracker stopped to stare at him.

"You know, over all these years, I've had too many fantasies about this." One finger stroked a sensor cluster buried under Hound's bumper, gaining Thundercracker a moan. "I don't think you can keep up with me."

Hound unshuttered his optics then, optics blazing. "Oh shut up and frag me already. I don't think any of your fantasies or mine had you talking this much."

"Oh maybe one or two," Thundercracker smiled.

Hound growled, digging his own fingers into sensitive seams to haul Thundercracker's face in closer to his so their noseplates were pressed together. "Shut up!"

"Make me."

The green mech kissed him then, hard and desperate and Thundercracker could feel his energy field flare in impatience and desire. He let it cover him and drag him under. It had been too long and Hound was right, talking was a stupid thing to be using his mouth for right now, not now he had his lover in his arms again. He felt like he'd come home and Thundercracker didn't feel scared by that, not anymore, because if home felt this good then the rest of the universe be fragged, Thundercracker wasn't letting it get away from him any longer.


	10. Epilogue

**Chapter 10 - Epilogue  
Notes:** It's only little, but it wanted to be written....

**- **

"Man this place got trashed didn't it?" Jazz looked around as he followed Blaster through the ruined city.

"Yeah, took one pit of a pounding." Blaster agreed before gesturing at the black and white. "Question for ya: Did you know about Hound and Thundercracker? I mean before all of this got aired like dirty laundry."

Jazz grinned. "Course I did. Wouldn't be very good at ma job now would I, if I couldn't find out 'bout a bot in ma own base. Never told anyone 'cept Optimus 'n he already knew 'n they weren't doin' no harm, so we let 'em be."

"So they're good then?"

"Solid as a rock. I ain't seen 'nother relationship last like theirs." Jazz snickered suddenly. "Maybe we should have been usin' Hound's example t' convert the Cons."

Blaster laughed. "I would pay in high grade to watch you put that to Prowl… Oh… slag, Jazz, I'm sorry."

The black and white mech shrugged one shoulder as he said, "It's ok. Still not real t' me yet either."

Blaster could see the downcast look on his companions face. "Yeah but I know you two were close friends."

"'Nother reason that I'm glad this war's over," Jazz glanced across the city. "But that helps too."

Blaster looked across at where Jazz had indicated with a nod. Hound was standing at the base of one of the ruined towers, a beam on one shoulder, staring up the tower. They could just about make out he was saying something, but not what. Up the tower, hovering next to it was Thundercracker. He had a tool in one hand but his attention was directed down at Hound.

The pair of watchers grinned when they saw the ex-Decepticon throw up his hands and drop downwards to land beside Hound. The green mech pointed at something up the tower and then at the tool in Thundercracker's hand. The seeker glanced at it and then threw it back over his shoulder with a shrug, which got him a slap across one intake from Hound.

The blue mech physically took the beam from Hound, gently leant it against the tower and then stepped right into the smaller mech's personal space. They could just see one black finger poking Hound in the centre of his chest and anyone else might have thought Thundercracker was threatening Hound, unless you saw the smiles on both of their faces. The seeker's finger trailed upwards, caught under Hound's chin and tilted it upwards so he could capture the other mech's lips in a kiss.

"That'd explain why no work's gettin' done," Jazz remarked.

"Rodimus seems to be taking their relationship well," Blaster commented. "He's not gonna deploy Hound or Thundercracker anywhere."

"He's got t' much else on his plate t' be worryin' 'bout a seeker turncoat 'n a scout that have proved this war wrong," Jazz shrugged.

"How do you mean?"

"This war just turned into one side wantin' the other dead. Those two want anythin' but that," Jazz turned away, taking Blaster with him. The red mech gave the couple one last glance before he followed his friend away.

-

Thundercracker lifted his head a little, enough to see Hound's optics, and smiled. "You were saying?"

"You know full well what I was saying," Hound responded, an answering smile on his own face. "You just don't want to work."

"I've been thinking."

"The horror," the green mech smirked.

"And you know full well _what_ I've been thinking about." The seeker slid one arm around Hound's waist.

"Do you ever think of anything else?"

"What can I say? You're irresistible," Thundercracker grinned.

"And you're insatiable." Hound prodded him in the chest. "You can just keep thinking. We've got work to do."

The blue mech stared down at his partner who, despite his words, hadn't moved, and his smile turned into something more content. "How did I end up here? Happy with a groundie, building things, at peace, on an organic world."

"You had a bad day," Hound replied softly.

"And I've never been so grateful that I did. May we have many more."

Hound laughed and pulled Thundercracker down to him again to kiss him.


End file.
